§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the operations of the robbery squad of the Metropolitan police have been reduced as a result of reductions in overtime working by officers of the criminal investigation department.
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§ Mr. HurdThe commissioner tells me that to compensate for the reduction in overtime working by officers of the central robbery squad, the squad has been temporarily augmented by 52 detectives from the City of London and Metropolitan police regional crime squad. He considers that the overall effectiveness of the robbery squad is not therefore at present impaired by the reduction in overtime working, though there has been some reduction in the squad's information-gathering capacity. The situation is being closely monitored.
The instruction to limit overtime was issued to the force as a whole in view of the excessive overtime being worked by some officers; this was considered to be in the interest neither of the officers' welfare nor of their effectiveness.