£1m in pay to guard cells
Police officers have been paid more than £1.1million in overtime in nine months to guard prisoners at stations in the West Midlands, the Express & Star can reveal.
The massive bill, which West Midlands Police is clawing back from the Home Office, comes as the prison population topped 81,000 for the first time.
The Government, desperate to find temporary overflow spaces for prisoners, turned to police cells for extra space.
It means officers who would normally be patrolling the streets are instead tied up in stations looking after inmates who should be in a main prison.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the bill in the West Midlands between October last year and the start of June was £1,100,611.
The emergency plan to house convicts in custody blocks has been nicknamed Operation Safeguard.
West Midlands Police today declined to say how many prisoners it is holding at any one time, but it has 44 places available.
It also emerged today that nine sergeants and 55 Pcs are assigned to guarding prisoners at stations in the region, including Birmingham's Steelhouse Lane.
Today concerns were raised that officers were being tied up on guard duty, affecting the force's ability to fight crime.
Pc Paul Tonks, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, said: "It's a sad state of affairs that we have to have Safeguard up and running.
"But that doesn't mean we have to let people back on to the streets. If they've been punished for a crime then they should be made to complete the sentence. If that involves officers working overtime, paid for by the Home Office, then so be it."
Wolverhampton North East MP Ken Purchase said: "I don't have any axe to grind against officers being paid for overtime. It's the fact these men and women are not available for other crime-fighting duties."
