SENIOR POLICE officers are “backfilling” former civilian roles in Tayside and Fife at a cost of thousands every year, it has emerged.
The figures leaked to The Courier reveal eight officers, one of them a Tayside inspector, are currently covering posts previously held by civilian staff.
The inspector, whose salary will be between £47,000 and £51,000 a year, has covered as head of firearms licensing since at least 2010.
Fife Constabulary said it has used officers in civilian custody posts because of long-term absence but this was not a “deliberate strategy”.
The disclosures emerged in a response to a Freedom of Information request.
George McIrvine, UNISON branch secretary for Tayside Police staff and chairman of the union’s police staff committee, claimed the true number of officers backfilling civilian positions was much higher than the figures released.
He said figures released were “just the tip of the iceberg, adding: “At any one time there can be about 30 to 40 officers backfilling roles, especially when it comes to shift workers.”
