Police forces angered at Met’s £5,000 ‘golden hellos’

A ROW has broken out between some of Britain’s biggest police forces after the Metropolitan Police started using £5,000 “golden hellos” to poach officers from elsewhere.

In an unprecedented move, nine police chiefs from neighbouring forces have written to Sir Stephen House, the acting Met Commissioner, saying they are “deeply concerned and distressed” at the golden hellos which they say are likely to be ultra vires or unlawful.

In their letter, seen by The Daily Telegraph, they warn that it will have a “hugely disproportionate and negative effect” by luring away experienced officers they have already trained and could be “damaging to operational viability”.

The chiefs of the forces – all in the South East – are struggling to hit Government “uplift” targets to recruit up to 8,000 officers between all of the 10 forces in a competitive jobs market. They say they may have no option but to offer similar “golden handshakes [to] protect the capacity and capabilities” of their forces.

The Met has announced it was going ahead with the offer of a £5,000 financial incentive to “retain experienced officers and attract even more uniformed constables to work in the capital”. It comes on top of an extra £7,000 for London allowance and weighting.

The Met had a record 33,567 officers by March, but needed to recruit 4,000 to hit its uplift target by next March.

Katy Bourne, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex, said she was “disgusted” by the Met’s move. “This is just poaching officers who other forces have invested in and trained.”