NEW figures show there are now 124,066 police officers in England\/Wales \u2013 2,752 fewer than the previous year.<\/p>\n
In 2009 there were 144,353 police officers in England and Wales. That’s 20,287 fewer<\/p>\n
In 2009, there were 3,053 police officers in South Yorkshire Police. There are now 2,494. That\u2019s 559 fewer.<\/p>\n
Neil Bowles, Chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said it was no coincidence that crime was now going up.<\/p>\n
He added: “Let’s be clear – police numbers do matter. Less officers means less chance of people getting caught; there is no deterrent.”<\/p>\n
The police workforce statistics, published on 21 July, showed that 4,735 officers joined the 43 police forces in England and Wales in 2015\/16, accounting for 3.8% of all officers.<\/p>\n
This represented a fall from the previous two years.<\/p>\n
The proportion of officers leaving the police, excluding transfers, in 2015\/16 was 5.5%, higher than the previous year and continuing the upward trend seen since 2009\/10.<\/p>\n
5.9% of all officers were Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) as at 31 March 2016, a higher proportion than any of the previous ten years. 12.1% of joiners were BME, compared with 4.4% of leavers.<\/p>\n
28.6% of all officers were female, again the highest proportion in the last ten years. 31.2% of joiners were female, while 22.8% of leavers were.<\/p>\n
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