Record number of police officers suspended on full pay – totalling £600,000 a week

A record number of police officers were suspended on full pay while police investigated allegations against them.

At the start of this financial year, 711 officers were on leave for alleged misconduct including brutality, sexual misconduct and corruption, up from 496 in 2023 and 225 in 2022. Their estimated weekly wage bill is more than £600,000.

Those recently suspended include the officer filmed kicking a man in the head at Manchester Airport and a Hampshire sergeant on trial accused of raping a colleague. The Met (152), West Midlands (47) and West Yorkshire (44) have the most officers suspended on full pay, Home Office statistics show.

Some suspended officials have received full pay for years while disciplinary proceedings and appeals drag on. Some are allowed to return to work – but if they are dismissed for misconduct, they keep the pay they received while suspended and usually any pension rights they have accrued.

Met Det Insp Warren Arter was suspended for seven years and ordered to pay £400,000. The 53-year-old, who worked in a unit caring for rape victims, was sacked last year for selling cocaine and taking drugs at swinger parties.

He was later charged with misconduct and remanded in custody. He was found dead in his cell days later. Critics say the police need to be quicker to take action against officers accused of breaking rules. It is believed that each suspension costs the force around £45,000. Police chiefs have said suspensions are only given in serious cases to protect the public.

Kevin Moore, a retired police chief, said: “Many cases take an excessively long time. But the fact that people are suspended on full pay during an investigation is not an isolated case in the police force.”