A Tayside Police officer received more than £16,000 in overtime payments last year contributing to a £2 million bill for the force.
Director of corporate services Doug Cross said the force had reduced the amount it paid out in overtime costs in recent years.
Mr Cross said: “There was an 8% reduction in hours paid and a 5% reduction in overtime costs. This represents a continuing reduction over the three years.
“The bulk of overtime incurred is demand-led dealing with operational incidents that occur or relates to officers attending court.
“While every effort is made to restrict … overtime hours worked by officers and the resulting costs, the force must respond to operational demands and attend court when required to give evidence.
“It is encouraging to see the downward trend in overtime hours worked and costs incurred continue.”
The total overtime paid in 2010/11 was £2,287,067 compared with £2,544,071 in 2008/09 and £2,410,765 in 2009/10.
The double time rate paid to a new constable is £22.29 an hour, while a sergeant with over four years’ experience would pick up £39.33.
The highest amount of overtime paid to a single officer last year was £16,043. Mr Cross said the officer was on secondment to a national agency.
“The requirement to work overtime is controlled and authorised by that agency,” he said. “All overtime costs incurred by the officer are reimbursed to the force.”
Only constables and sergeants are eligible for paid overtime, but there is no cap on the amount that can be claimed.
Tayside Police Federation secretary Dave Hamilton said: “We record all overtime, so we would know if anyone was breaching the working time regulations.”