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Police officer numbers fall to lowest level in decade | Police officer numbers fall to lowest level in decade |
(40 minutes later) | |
The number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level for a decade, official figures show. | The number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level for a decade, official figures show. |
There were 135,838 police officers in September 2011 - 6,012 fewer than the 141,850 there had been a year earlier. | |
Only one of the 43 forces, Surrey Police, increased police officer numbers over that period. | |
Police civilian staff numbers in September 2011 stood at 69,407, down 8,820 or 11.3% over the 12 months. | |
But the number of special constables, who are volunteers, went up by more than 2,500 (15.5%) to 19,366. | |
The figures show the number of officers fell by more than 3,000 from last March alone. | The figures show the number of officers fell by more than 3,000 from last March alone. |
The biggest percentage reduction in officers was in Derbyshire, which saw a 7.5% fall - 156 officers - followed by Nottinghamshire, which fell by 6.9% - 165 officers - and Devon and Cornwall, which fell by 6.1% or 213 officers. | |
The figures come as Gloucestershire Police Chief Constable Tony Melville warned of the dangers of further cuts to his force's budget, saying it was on a "metaphorical cliff edge". | |
Chief Constable Peter Fahy, the Association of Chief Police Officers' lead for workforce development, said it was "not surprising" to see a fall in the numbers of officers as most police forces had seen significant cuts. | Chief Constable Peter Fahy, the Association of Chief Police Officers' lead for workforce development, said it was "not surprising" to see a fall in the numbers of officers as most police forces had seen significant cuts. |
'Challenging time' | |
"This is a very difficult time for most police forces with staff leaving and the challenge of managing redundancy and change programmes," he said. | "This is a very difficult time for most police forces with staff leaving and the challenge of managing redundancy and change programmes," he said. |
"Workforce morale is understandably affected by the pay freeze, proposed increment freeze and increase in pension contributions." | "Workforce morale is understandably affected by the pay freeze, proposed increment freeze and increase in pension contributions." |
Mr Fahy went on to say the effectiveness of policing could not be measured by the number of officers alone, but by reductions in crime and increases in public confidence. | |
"We will shortly enter the most difficult financial year for policing in living memory but forces have the plans to cope with what will be a most challenging time," he said. | "We will shortly enter the most difficult financial year for policing in living memory but forces have the plans to cope with what will be a most challenging time," he said. |
On the positive side, he said, many forces had started recruiting again, or would continue to do so in the next financial year. | |
But he said this would not compensate for "what will still be a long-term reduction in numbers". | |
The government is cutting central government funding to police in England and Wales by 20% over five years, as a result of the 2010 Spending Review. | |
Policing minister Nick Herbert said: "There were around 25,000 officers in backroom jobs, giving forces plenty of scope to save money while still protecting the front line. | |
"In fact, forces are protecting neighbourhood policing, and the proportion of the police workforce on the front line is rising. | |
"What matters most is how officers are deployed. By cutting bureaucracy and working more efficiently, police visibility on the streets can be improved." |