27th Jan 12
Police officer numbers drop to ten-year low
by Natasha Redman
The thining blue line: less Brits signing up for police
The thining blue line: less Brits signing up for police
The number of police officers in England and Wales has dropped to its lowest level for 10 years, show official figures.
In September 2011 there were 135,838 officers – 6,012 less than a year earlier, when there were 141,850. Out of the 43 forces only one, Surrey Police, increased the number of police officers during that period.
Meanwhile, the number of police civilian staff in September 2011 was 69,407, dropping by 8,820 or 11.3 per cent during the 12 months. However, the amount of special constables, who volunteer to do the role, increased by over 2,500 to 19,366.
The figures reveal that the amount of officers dropped by over 3,000 from last March. Derbyshire suffered the highest percentage reduction in officers with a fall of 7.5 per cent – 156 officers – with Nottinghamshire coming next with 6.9 per cent – 165 officers – and then Devon and Cornwall, which dropped by 6.1 per cent – 213 officers.
The figures have been revealed as Gloucestershire Police Chief Constable Tony Melville said that it would be dangerous to make further reductions to his force’s budget, describing it as being on a “metaphorical cliff edge”.
Chief Constable Peter Fahy, the lead for workforce development for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said that the fall in officer numbers was not surprising as there had been significant cuts in most police forces. He admitted that it is a very tough time for the majority of police forces as staff are leaving and they have the challenge of managing change and redundancy programmes.
Mr Fahy went on to say that workforce morale is understandably impacted by the pay freeze, the increase in pension contributions and the proposed increment freeze. However, he pointed out that how effective the police are could not solely be measured on officer numbers, but by crime reductions and improved public confidence.
On a positive note, he said that a number of forces had begun recruiting again, or would be doing so over the next financial year. However, he acknowledged that this would not make up for what is still going to be a reduction in numbers over the long term.
The government is reducing central government funding to the English and Welsh police forces by 20 per cent over five years, a decision made on the back of the 2010 Spending Review. Nick Herbert, the policing minister, said that there were roughly 25,000 officers in backroom positions, meaning forces had plenty of scope to make cost savings while remaining to protect the front line.
Mr Herbert went on to say that forces are actually protecting neighbourhood policing, while the proportion of the workforce is rising on the front line. He insisted that what is important is the way in which the officers are deployed, explaining that by cutting bureaucracy there can be an improvement in the number of officers on the streets.
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