Police overtime costs hundreds of millions

Police overtime hours are increasing. Last year, overtime cost the state hundreds of millions of kroner. Gang violence is cited as a cause, but also shortcomings in the organization of the police.

– There is a tendency to dismiss criticism almost reflexively, says Mona Backhans, investigator at Brå.

Last year, the police worked more than 1 million overtime hours in the country. That is a 34 percent increase compared to the year before the pandemic. So far this year, six police precincts have broken the previous record for overtime, even though 2023 isn’t over yet.

If you start from the average salary for police officers and civilian employees, overtime last year cost between just over SEK 307 million and just over SEK 478 million in tax funds, according to TT’s calculations.

– We thought overtime was serious in 2018, but there is much more overtime now than then. It is an extreme situation, says Katharina von Sydow, president of the Police Association.

One explanation for the many overtime hours is serious crime, the union believes. When so-called “special events” such as shootings or explosions occur in an area, the Police Agency can move personnel from other parts of the country there – lately mostly Stockholm. This can lead to overtime for the officers who have been transferred, but also in the local police area from which they are taken.

The police authority’s own explanation is that the authority has grown in recent years. More employees lead to more overtime at the end of the shift, says press secretary Sofia Hellqvist in an email to TT.

Partly, the overtime is caused by the increased crime rate. Therefore, overtime would decrease if the Police Agency only received more money and employees, she states.

Ineffective

But more money does not have to help, believes Per Dackenberg, project manager at the National Audit Office.

– It’s about how you use your resources.

The National Audit Office’s task is to review how efficiently the state’s money is used. In a report, they show that the Police Agency has become worse at solving mass crimes, such as fraud, theft, assault and drug trafficking – despite more money for the agency in recent years.

One of several reasons is that local police who are supposed to investigate mass crimes are moved to where the gang violence is, but such assignments “do more harm than good”, writes the National Audit Office in another report. In any case, when the police stay longer than a few days at the place where a serious crime has been committed.

The additional cost for the officers cannot be traced either, “which makes it difficult to ensure good management of the state’s funds”, according to the report.

Even the Crime Prevention Council (Brå) criticizes what the Police Authority is doing with its increased resources, but then from an organizational perspective.

“Self playing piano”

In Brå’s report it is stated that “so far there have been no clearly positive effects of staff growth”, apart from the blue light staff.

The part of the police that has increased in percentage terms is the national part, i.e. Noa and other support departments located in Stockholm.

– It can become like a self-playing piano where the administration constantly finds new jobs for themselves and also has an easier time getting the management’s ear because they are close, says Mona Backhans, investigator at Brå.

At the same time, there is a shortage of police officers in Stockholm, partly because of the tough working environment, believes Mona Backhans. In the meantime, the police colleagues at Noa have SEK 5,000-10,000 more in monthly salary compared to the equivalent position in a police region.

Ignores criticism

Regarding the criticism that the Police Agency is ineffective, the press department states that they “move and reinforce with resources where the problem picture is greatest”, and mentions Stockholm.

But in addition to the National Audit Office and Brå, police in the regions have also criticized the orders, according to Mona Backhans.

– There is a tendency for management to dismiss criticism almost reflexively.

FACT Police overtime

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