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Police forces hit by staff claims rise

Jun 14 2009 by Colin Patterson, Sunday Sun

“The senior management of every police force must focus on working with officers who have disabilities, rather than simply trying to buy them off with taxpayers’ money.

“Reducing the willingness to make payments would also help to avoid any more greedy individuals viewing this as a way to cash in.”

Scott Westbrook, the President of the National Disabled Police Association, said the problem was caused by the way forces were putting more officers back on frontline duties.

He said: “They are not looking at the impact this is having on the workforce.

“In some cases, it’s like a witch-hunt to see who they can kick out of the job.

“That is clearly why the number of employment tribunals has gone up.”

The total number of tribunals brought against forces in the UK has increased from 248 in 2003 to 405 last year.

A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: “There are number of reasons why the number of disability discrimination-based employment tribunal claims may be increasing and we are working with forces so that internal disputes can be rectified quickly, whilst ensuring that the welfare of the officer or member of staff is upheld.”

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