£75k police payments ‘justified’ say bosses

which works out at £175 per person;

■ A total of £3,700 paid to officers who passed their exams – which works out at £100 per person.

The data reveals the force paid out £2,100 to 21 officers who acted as hostage and crisis negotiators on the same day in November, 2017.

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “These are small payments which are made in line with police regulations to recognise exceptional contributions and work, including on-call duties, by staff and officers.”

Staffordshire’s police and crime commissioner Matthew Ellis says the payments should not be classed as ‘bonuses.’

He said: “These are small payments where officers have had to deal with difficult or exceptional instances during the course of their duties and are enshrined in national legislation.” Union leaders have backed the payments.

Staffordshire Police Federation chairman Keith Jervis, left, said: “These payments cover exceptional circumstances. These are not things you would expect from the normal course of your duty and the force can pay an additional bonus – it is not a large amount of money.

“Along the way some people will have to fingerprint a body but that is not everyone’s cup of tea. These are more unusual situations and if you want officers to do things like that then I don’t think it’s unreasonable to pay them.”

The tutor bonus payments are often