Recent murder cases has put CID under unprecedented pressure

A series of recent murder cases has put CID under unprecedented pressure and detectives say pay does not recognise the extra hours having to be worked.

Devon and Cornwall's Deputy Chief Constable Nigel Arnold said negotiations were ongoing.

He added that he was confident the dispute could be quickly resolved.

Detective Inspectors and Chief Inspectors have not received overtime for the extra work they have been doing on the number of recent serious crimes across the region.

Many feel they are not being properly rewarded, particularly when compared to community beat officers.

Their right is that once they done their day's work, they can go home and enjoy a work-life balance Steve Pierce, Police Federation

The beat officers are given special discretionary "priority payments" of �1,000 or more annually while detectives are not.

Beat officers also tend to work standard hours, unlike CID.

Now some Devon and Cornwall detectives are threatening to refuse calls out of normal working hours.

The chairman of the Police Federation in Cornwall, Steve Pierce, says he can understand why some members are considering taking action.

Anger felt

"There is a great deal of anger from them and they feel they're not being listened to.

"As for saying they're not going to take calls, that is their right.

"Their right is that once they've done their day's work, as the rest of us in this country, they can go home and enjoy a work-life balance."

However, speaking on BBC Radio Cornwall, some residents said they believed high-ranking officers should be on call at all times.

"They should be providing a service 24 hours a day, and that's what we're expecting," said one man.

Serious crime

And a woman told the station: "I think that they should come out because the time factor may be something important in apprehending criminals.

"I would imagine that in London they would come out, so why should we have an inferior service?"

Deputy Chief Constable Nigel Arnold said he believed the dispute would be speedily resolved, probably by offering detectives the special payments.

He said: "I'm confident we'll reach a resolution. We have no choice but to find a resolution.

"In the meantime, I'm also confident that all of our staff are committed to the residents of Devon and Cornwall and will continue to be called out as and when serious crime dictates.

"These are staff who are only called out when we have a serious crime."