£1.8million bonuses and ‘extra payments’ for cops, Teesdale Mercury

A ROW has started after it was revealed that officers at Durham Police were given £1.8million in bonuses and “extra payments” last year.

The force published the figures after a request was made under the Freedom of Information Act by a 

national newspaper.

According to documents released last week, Durham Police was asked to publish “bonus payments paid to police officers for the last two years”.

The force subsequently said that officers received more than £1.8million in these payments in 2009/10.

The figures showed that last year 642 officers – from constables to chief inspectors – were given a total of £949,903.99 in payments targeted at staff who have a high level of 

responsibility or have demanding work conditions.

A further 770 officers were paid a total of £872,690 through a scheme that rewards staff who show competence, are committed to the job and are willing to learn. They must also have served for a year at the maximum of their pay scale.

Chief Constable Jon Stoddart was paid a performance-related bonus of £18,765 in 2009/10.

Four chief superintendents at Durham Police, which is reported 

to need to save £1.3m because of 

Government cutbacks, were also given bonuses totalling £17,517.50.

The payments were introduced in 2002 by David Blunkett, the home secretary at the time, to offer incentives for performance. Five types of bonus are available.

It has been reported that officers across the country received more than £150million last year.

Critics have called the payments 

“a bonus for doing your duty” and 

there have been calls for the cash to be included in basic officer salaries.

Paul McKeever, the chairman of the Police Federation, said: “Bonuses are being given for the job we should be doing anyway and have not increased productivity. They are also divisive, because they are not received by all officers.”

County councilor Richard Bell, who is a member of Durham Police Authority, said: “We need to have a proper debate on these payments – it’s not clear what these payments comprise or are paid for. If a specific payment is given for a specific responsibility, I have no problem with that.

“But I do have a problem with a culture – if there is a culture – that gives bonuses to people who do their jobs competently.

“The force and the authority need to look closely at this.”

Jon Stoddart became Durham 

Police’s Chief Constable in 2005, 

having previously been Deputy Chief Constable.

Peter Thompson, chairman of the Durham Police Authority, said: “This payment referred to was made to the Chief Constable at my insistence and reflects the fact that Durham is and continues to be one of the UK’s top performing forces in terms of crime reduction and detections.” 

A Durham Police spokeswoman added: “The bonus system for chief constables is a nationally negotiated scheme which has been in existence for some years and is performance-related. The payment referred to is for performance in 2008/09. It is part of nationally agreed pay agreements and part of the Chief Constable’s contract.”

She added that the “extra payments” to frontline officers were not “bonuses in the traditional sense”.

“For instance, some of the payments are paid to officers in areas where recruitment is difficult,” she said.

Durham Police employs 1,470 officers, who are supported by over 997 members of police staff, 133 special constables and 172 police community support officers.