July 22, 2010: Police Numbers: Latest Figures
The latest National Statistics on police service strength in England and Wales produced by the Home Office have been released.
Statistics on police strength for the 43 police forces of England and Wales and for the British Transport Police are published for the financial year ending 31 March 2010.
The key points from the latest release are:
- There were 143,734 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in the 43 police forces of England and Wales as at 31 March 2010. This is a decrease of 35 officers compared to a year earlier.
- The FTE police officer strength figure for the 43 forces of England and Wales as at 31 March 2010, calculated on the old basis which excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave, was 141,631. This is a decrease of 16officers compared to a year earlier.
- However, police officer strength, including officers from the British Transport Police and those seconded to Central Services (such as the National Policing Improvement Agency or HM Inspectorate of Constabulary), was 146,912 FTE as at 31 March 2010, one more than a year earlier.
- There were 6,642 FTE minority ethnic officers in the 43 English and Welsh police forces as at 31 March 2010, 4.6 per cent of the total strength, compared with 4.4 per cent a year earlier.
- FTE police staff numbers (excluding PCSOs, traffic wardens and designated officers) for the 43 police forces of England and Wales stand at 79,596 as at 31 March 2010, an increase of 0.4 per cent compared to a year earlier.
- The total number of FTE police community support officers in the 43 forces of England and Wales was 16,918 as at 31 March 2010, an increase of 2.5 per cent on the previous year.
Overall, there were 244,497 FTE staff (officers and staff) working in the 43 police forces of England and Wales.