Police force banks £200k after hiring out officers to events (From Gazette & Herald)

North Yorkshire Police force banks £200k after hiring out officers to events

10:22am Friday 7th September 2012 in News By Jennifer Bell, jennifer.bell@thepress.co.uk

North Yorkshire Police pocketed nearly £200,000 last year for hiring out officers to race meetings, football matches and even TV programmes.

Figures obtained by The Press showed that the force cashed in to the tune of £192,943.47 in 2011/12 for special policing arrangements to companies needing officer support.

The biggest income for the cash-strapped force, which is battling sweeping cuts in the wake of the Comprehensive Spending Review, was York Racecourse, which spent £148,433 hiring officers to police its 17 race days throughout the year.

Ripon and Catterick racecourses also used officers from the force – with their bills totalling £5,596.51.

The force, which expects to lose £20 million in funding as part of the public spending squeeze, also cashed in by policing matches for York City FC.

The football club’s bill totalled £25,038.39 for officers providing support at games against Sunderland, Hartlepool, Bolton, Darlington, Luton, Grimsby and Wrexham.

ITV Yorkshire gave North Yorkshire Police £384.93 for hiring officers during the filming of Emmerdale, while the force gained £1,750 from a private company for help escorting an abnormal load.

The Forestry Commission spent £6,038 hiring officers for events at Dalby Forest, while helping out at the Castle Howard Triathlon netted the force a further £549.

Policing bike and car racing events also proved lucrative.

For helping at Richmond Grand Prix the force gained £2,269, and a further £989 for policing a British Super Bikes competition, while Croft Circuit paid out £439 for police help at a Touring Cars event.

The Police Act 1996 makes provision for any force to provide special police services to any person on payment of appropriate charges.