Chairman of the Police Federation, Sergeant Raymond Wilson, is insisting that the time has come for police personnel to be paid for hours worked beyond forty hours, each week.

Speaking on day one of the Federation’s 74th Annual Joint Central Conferences this morning (May 9), the Police Federation Chairman said this year’s conference will give the authorities a month to eliminate the practice of police personnel not being paid for hours in excess of the 40 hour work week.

Sergeant Wilson said cops must be paid for every hour after completing their regular working hours, similar to that of nurses.

He says, implementation of the forty hour work week, for which the Federation lobbied and won several years ago, has been dragged out for too long, and police officers are being worn out without financial power to replenish their drained energy.

He pointed out that about 400 cops have left the force over the last three years, adding that they have not been replaced and that it is the remaining officers who continue to carry out the tasks.

Sergeant Wilson asked who is benefiting from the salaries that amount to millions that would normally be paid to those 400 workers.

He is suggesting that the salaries that would have been paid to those who have left the force be put in a fund and given to the Commissioner to facilitate the deployment of personnel and payment for overtime.

The Police Federation Chairman was speaking at the 74th Annual Conference of the Police Federation, being held at the Iberostar Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James under the theme “Preserving The Institution, Serving The Protectors”.