Police Compensation 'Tops £12 Million'
Report by The Sun newspaper top report suggests payouts are rocketing.
Courtesy of - The Sun Online
Compensation payouts to officers totalling a £12 million has been branded as unacceptable.
Many of the settlements – were for slips, trips and minor ailments.
They include £120,000 for a bruise, £17,500 for "noise-induced deafness from computer/keyboard" and £14,000 for a sergeant who claimed a cell buzzer gave him ringing in his ears.
The staggering amount of compensation was revealed as senior officers told how budget cuts had forced them to axe 6,000 officers.
It brings total police numbers in England and Wales down to 136,261, the lowest for a decade.
But the £12 million – paid out since 2006 to officers and police workers – could put 600 bobbies back on the beat.
MP Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "While some serious injuries deserve compensation, I'm alarmed police forces continue to be liable for every trip and slip in the workplace.
"It would be good if the Prime Minister would use this information in his drive to kill off the health and safety culture."
The Sun obtained the figures through Freedom of Information requests.
Taxpayers' Alliance spokeswoman Emma Boon said: "Sadly the growing compensation culture is partly responsible for many of these bonkers payouts.
"Police forces should fight questionable claims so money isn't diverted away from the front line. Many of these incidents look trivial."
The largest single payout of £550,000 went to a civilian employee who sued Hertfordshire Police for chronic pain syndrome caused by a broken elbow sustained in a slip in an icy car park.
The West Midlands force refused to divulge details of the bumper "bruise" settlement.
Policing Minister Nick Herbert insisted there would be more frontline police after the cuts thanks to a clampdown on backroom waste.
But Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government was "letting down communities and turning its back on the police".
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