POLICE officer numbers across England and Wales have dropped by 1,674 in the past year.<\/p>\n
There were 127,909 police officers in the 43 police forces of England and Wales as at 31 March 2014 \u2013 down from 129,584 in 2013. In South Yorkshire Police there are now 2,722 police officers. This is down 45 officers in 12 months.<\/p>\n
It is the fifth consecutive annual fall in officer numbers across England and Wales and the lowest number of police officers for 12 years.<\/p>\n
The number of police staff and community support officers also fell.<\/p>\n
Plenty of police forces, however, reported increases in police officers. They were Cumbria, North Yorkshire Police, Dyfed Powys, Thames Valley, Merseyside, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon and Cornwall Police.<\/p>\n
In the Met, there was a huge increase of 534 cops, year on year.<\/p>\n
The figures show that in March 2010, there were 244,497 people working in policing. There are now 209,362, down 35,135.<\/p>\n
Andy Fittes, General Secretary of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: \u201cThe latest police workforce national statistics for England and Wales show that numbers of police workers are now at a 12 year low.<\/p>\n
\u201cCuts to policing have put a strain on all aspects of the service and while officers have been doing an incredible job to bridge the gaps, cracks are beginning to show and they are telling us they are feeling the pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nature of offending is starting to change but we have seen many of our specialist teams and units, who work to address these changes, cut or under threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile officers throughout the country continue to work incredibly hard on a daily basis keeping society safe, it would be wrong to assume these cuts aren\u2019t starting to have a noticeable effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The information came out the same day as crime statistics were revealed. They point to no change in the level of overall crime between April 2013 and March 2014.<\/p>\n
That is the first time recorded crime has remained static since 2002\/3.<\/p>\n
The separate Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSWE) indicated offending levels dropped by 14% in the same period.<\/p>\n
The CSEW report, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), estimates crime levels based on how many people say they have been the victim.<\/p>\n
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