Secret pay deals give top police thousands extra
Senior police officers are receiving “off-book payments” and secret perks totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds, including private school fees and cars for their spouses.
The Times has discovered that one chief constable heading a force of just 1,700 officers was paid a £74,000 top-up on his salary last year. Sean Price, of the Cleveland force, was paid a £50,000 “retention package” and an “honorarium” of £24,000, raising his income to £200,000.
The private deals, sometimes referred to as debentures or supplements, are negotiated with police authorities behind closed doors and paid over and above salaries agreed in national negotiations.
The incentives include generous relocation packages, satellite TV, home security and even “lifestyle coaching”. They are legal but largely hidden from the public. The Times has uncovered the scale of the practice.
Ian McPherson, head of Norfolk police, received £70,000 more than his £126,000 salary in 2007-08 when his police authority paid the stamp duty on his purchase of a new house.
Sir Norman Bettison, West Yorkshire’s chief constable, has a “unique package” worth about £55,000 a year.
Essex Police Authority paid a “golden handcuffs” bonus to the chief constable, Roger Baker, but the strategy failed because he retired this week.
The pay deals are the subject of fierce disagreement among chief police officers and officials, who are gathering today in Manchester for the annual conference of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and the Association of Police Authorities.
Sir Ken Jones, the retiring president of Acpo, said: “If people feel that the pay scales need to change then they should be openly renegotiated. These payments effectively lock people into a particular force and inhibit movement and development.”
Another senior officer told The Times: “We should not have such secrets in the Police Service. This works totally against the idea of equal opportunities. You have to be part of the inner circle.”
But Stephen Bett, the chairman of Norfolk Police Authority, said: “If chief executives of district councils, with very limited direct public accountability, are paid £120,000 a year, what would attract anyone to be Chief Constable of Norfolk, with all his direct accountability, for £129,000 per year?”
Tags: Acpo, Association Of Chief Police Officers, Association Of Police Authorities, Chief Constable, Chief Police Officers, Cleveland Force, cleveland police, Closed Doors, Debentures, Essex Police Authority, Golden Handcuffs, Honorarium, Ken Jones, Norfolk Police, O Neill, Pay Scales, Police Authorities, Private Deals, Private School Fees, Relocation Packages, Roger Baker, Rsquo, Satellite Tv, Sir Ken, Sir Norman, Stamp Duty, West Yorkshire
Statement from Chief Constable Sean Price
I am delighted to announce the introduction of the ‘Policing Pledge’, a national charter for excellence in policing that has been developed by the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Association of Police Authorities (APA). The pledge is intended to reflect local priorities for policing and map out a very clear commitment to delivering a first class policing service to local communities. I am happy to endorse the adoption of the ‘Policing Pledge’ by Cleveland Police and Cleveland Police Authority, and I look forward to us working together to achieve its objectives. Whilst this is a new national initiative, I firmly believe that it does not mark a fundamental change in the way we deliver our policing in Cleveland as it is based upon many of the principles which we already follow as part of our ‘Putting People First’ strategy. but we dont know who the criminals are so we will arrest and intimidate everyone because wwe did it before with neil scott an innocent man who after 21 arrests over 7years we had to falsify the evidence in a crown court case with the help of detective sgt cook,we did get our man eventually even though he only had 1 conviction in 43 years when we finally imprisonned him