South East police forces react with fury to Metropolitan Police's £5,000 offer for officers to jump ship to the London force

1 June 2022

Police forces in the South East of England have reacted with fury after the Metropolitan Police offered experienced officers from other areas a £5,000 bonus to jump ship and join the London force.

Police and Crime Commissioners and Police Federations accused the Metropolitan Police of trying to “poach police officers” by offering the cash bung.

The £5,000 ‘one off cash bonus’, the Metropolitan Police said, would be on top ‘our existing package of benefits to encourage more people to become a police constable’… such as London weighting.

Zoe Wakefield, Chair of Hampshire Police Federation, said all police officers across the country needed to be paid fairly.

She said: “The Government are creating a situation where forces are having to compete against each other to increase their numbers in order to meet the Uplift targets - set by the Government. Because of a possible financial penalty, underhand tactics like this are happening.

“Police officers should be transferring because they want the experience of working in another force or because they want or need to relocate for personal reasons. It should never be a financial decision. This public money is being used to meet a Government target.

“This would not need to happen if police officers were paid fairly to start with.

“There would not be an issue with increasing police numbers. A general manager in McDonalds is paid more than a new student police officer. How can that be right? The Government need to increase police pay to an acceptable level if they want attract people into the service AND retain the experienced officers who are leaving and getting jobs in the private sector earning sometimes £20,000 more with less stress, risk and trauma.”