Sick days taken by West Midlands Police officers rose by more than 11,500 in 12 months, with the force’s federation blaming increasing stress.
The average officer was off for 10.7 days in 2014-15, up from 8.7 days in 2013-14. PCSOs’ average sickness dropped from 9.4 days to nine days.
It meant 77,817 days – equivalent to more than 213 years – were lost to officer sickness and 6,172 among PCSOs.