Sponsored by
West Yorkshire Police: 500 cops 'too ill for frontline duty'
More than 500 West Yorkshire police officers are not well enough to undertake full frontline duties, the YEP can reveal
Figures have revealed that 505 officers were on either "restricted" or "recuperative" duties last year – or 8.6 per cent of the force's total number of officers.
* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from your YEP.
The number of officers unable to undertake full frontline duties has increased over the last few years – it stood at 428 in 2007 and 477 officers in 2008. There are 5,854 officers currently working in West Yorkshire Police.
* Click here to follow the YEP on Twitter.
Those officers on either restrictive or recuperative duties receive their full salary – an average of 30,000 – despite performing limited roles.
* Click here to read YEP political editor Mark Hookham's Westminster blog.
Officers on restrictive duties are those permanently signed off certain work because of illness or injury. Those on recuperative duties are temporarily unable to carry out their full duties.
* Click here to watch latest YEP news and sport video reports.
Police officers who are not fit to work on the frontline can be deployed in back-office jobs or other roles like control rooms, intelligence or taking interview statements from witnesses.
* Click here for latest Leeds United news.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "In any organisation there will times when people have to be placed on restricted or recuperative duties.
"This could be down to a number of reasons, such as pregnancy or being injured while on duty.
"Being a police officer is at times a dangerous job and sometimes our officers do get injured while protecting the public.
"Because we understand this, we look at ways to use those officers in order to support other frontline officers.
"Just because someone is on restricted duties does not mean they are prevented from contributing to a top-quality service."
The Police Federation, which represents all frontline officers, has said a Home Office crack down on the number of ill-health retirements had caused the number of officers on restricted duties to rise.
Paul McKeever, the national chairman of the Federation, has urged forces to do more to try to rehabilitate and assist the recuperation of officers.
Policing Minister David Hanson said: "It is appropriate that decisions about recuperative and restricted duties remain a matter for police forces and medical professionals.
"Police officer numbers, at over 142,151, have increased by more than 16,000 in the last 12 years while police absence through sickness has fallen by over a third in the last ten years.
"I recognise police officers have a difficult job, sometimes in dangerous circumstances."
The YEP recently revealed how police officers, paramedics and firefighters face hundreds of attacks every year while on duty.
The damning statistics showed that there were more than 400 assaults on West Yorkshire police officers in 2008/09, prompting the Police Federation to call on the criminal justice system to get tough with the attackers.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: West
