Internal police disputes cost approximately £15m each year warned Alarm, as it urged senior police officers to adopt more effective management strategies to settle claims before they reach court.
Alarm, the national forum for risk managers in the public sector, said 131 employment tribunals were held in the UK last year to examine claims made by police officers that they had been badly or unfairly treated.
It placed the cost of each tribunal at approximately £117,000, leading to the £15m total per year.
Alarm chairman Bob Cope, said: “Employment tribunals involving police forces cost millions of pounds, much of which could be saved if risks were being identified and dealt with much earlier.
“Dealing with risks before they explode and reach the stage where an employee takes industrial action would save time, money and resources. And in some situations, a simple 'sorry”' from a senior manager could have resolved the problem without further action.
“Sometimes senior officers believe, or are advised, that an apology is not appropriate. When it is, no one should be afraid to say sorry”.
He added: “Clearly there are times when a force, or any other organisation, decides it will and must defend an action brought against it and goes on to defeat such claims.
“But there are undoubtedly occasions when all the disgruntled employee wants is a straightforward apology, and that really would be the end of the matter, ensuring limited budgets are spent where they are most needed, on vital front-line policing services.”
