a former chief constable is being sued by the police force where he used to work in a bid to recover £85,000 in 'golden handcuffs' payments he received for staying in his job roger baker was employed by essex police on a salary of £139,000, but bonuses and expenses took his total pay above £200,000 a year the payments included £85,000 to reward him for staying at the force   but the area's police commissioner now disputes these bonuses, and has launched a legal challenge to claw them back mr baker was chief constable of essex police between 2005 and 2009, when he left the force with a £60,000 bonus for three months' work row: roger baker, left, was paid £85,000 by essex police in a 'golden handcuffs' deal which is now being challenged by police commissioner nick alston, right  he went on to work for her majesty's inspectorate of constabulary, the police watchdog, where he was responsible for monitoring 'value for money' in police forces around the country the 56 year old former policeman is now a director at colchester hospital, paid £11,000 a year for working four days out of every month mr baker was deputy chief constable of north yorkshire police before moving to essex, where he forged a reputation as an advocate of 'bobbies on the beat' he became known for controversial policies such as banning officers from wearing sunglasses when they talked to the public, and was criticised in a report because he insisted on sending an officer to the scene of every single reported crime roger baker gained a reputation as an outspoken advocate of beat policing during his time as chief constable of essex police   but officials accused him of wasting taxpayers' money on needless intervention the 56 year old spent 32 years as a police officer, starting his career in derbyshire before becoming assistant chief constable of staffordshire police and deputy chief constable of north yorkshire police in 2005, he was appointed as the top officer in essex, where he courted controversy with his traditionalist brand of policing mr baker instructed officers to interview everyone who claimed to be a victim of a crime, rather than simply giving them a reference number, and also targeted low level criminality such as vandalism after the police watchdog said that attending every crime scene 'is not always necessary and can be time consuming', conservative mps stood up for mr baker's unconventional methods he retired from the force in july 2009, and soon took a new job with her majesty's inspectorate of constabulary, where he monitored police forces for whether or not they were providing value for money mr baker then led a review of police relationships with the media and other external bodies, before stepping down from hmic last year the area's now defunct police authority is understood to have given mr baker three payments totalling £85,000 to reward him for his loyalty to the force in total, he was paid around £150,000 in bonuses and expenses for his last 15 months of work at essex police essex police and crime commissioner nick alston claimed in 2013 that mr baker's 'golden handcuffs' deal fell outside payment regulations set by the home secretary he said today: 'i have continued to progress this matter robustly, always seeking to achieve a resolution that is in the best interests of the people of essex 'i can confirm that i have now commenced legal proceedings to seek to recover £85,000 plus interest from mr baker 'as legal proceedings are now active, i am unable to say anything further about this specific case' mr baker was unavailable to comment on the controversy last month, it emerged that the former chief constable of cleveland police would be able to keep the vast majority of a £500,000 bonus pot which the force claimed had been wrongly paid to him sean price agreed to repay just £23,000 despite being sacked from his job after lying about the recruitment of the former police authority chairman's daughter in 2013, north yorkshire's police commissioner was forced to abandon her attempt to reclaim £100,000 in allowances paid to the force's former chief constable and his deputy the pay of chief police officers is now being investigated for the first time by the senior salaries review body, which provides independent advice to the government
roger baker 85,000 essex police baker
roger baker received 'retention payments' totalling £85,000 to persuade him to stay at essex police . police commissioner now claims the bonuses were illegal and is suing him . after retiring, baker was in charge of monitoring police 'value for money'