West Mercia's frontline police officer numbers drop by 141 in four years

Home Office data shows the number of West Mercia police officers has dropped six per cent since March 2015 – although the force says it is now undertaking its biggest recruitment drive in history.

It has dropped three per cent in Dyfed and Powys.

West Mercia Police had 1,721 officers in frontline policing roles in March, 109 fewer than when comparable records began in March 2015.

While Dyfed-Powys Police had 994 officers in frontline policing roles in March, 32 fewer than March 2015.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has endorsed proposals to spend £1 billion over the next three years to recruit an extra 20,000 officers nationwide.

West Mercia Police says it is currently undertaking its biggest recruitment drive in history, with record numbers of new student officers embarking on training and experienced officers joining the police force from other forces on a regular basis.

Training

Policing lead for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Chief Superintendent Kevin Purcell said: "In July alone 21 new student officers, who will eventually be based in Telford, Shrewsbury and Oswestry, started their training with 16 of these on patrol in the next four months and five Police Now officers on our streets by the end of the year.

"In addition during July three officers from other forces joined us and are now based in Telford, Shrewsbury and Oswestry.

"These numbers are on top of the officers we have already recruited and are in the process of their training and as our recruitment drive continues we anticipate our numbers will be bolstered even more.

"We know our communities want to see more police on the streets and this recruitment drive will mean we will be able to increase our visibility and make a real difference.”

Dafydd Llywelyn, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Dyfed-Powys, said despite reduced funding from central Government, Dyfed-Powys Police had seen an increase of four per cent in the total numbers of officers and staff available since 2016.

He said: “As the elected PCC I am doing everything I can to safeguard these numbers and I welcome recent announcements in relation to increasing officer numbers. However this needs to come with the necessary funding from central Government.

“Further work is needed to transform our services to meet new demands but I am confident that Dyfed-Powys Police is responding positively in these challenging financial times.”

Support

Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Superintendent Peter Roderick added: “Within recent years, we have introduced specialist teams of officers who undertake functions to support our frontline officers, particularly in relation to new and emerging crime types.

"For example, online crime and fraud.

"These specialist officers undertake work which frees front line resources up for other calls. They are however, always deployable should they be needed on the front line.

“It is difficult to compare numbers of police officers and staff in different departments as policing models change over time however we have worked hard to maintain our front line.

“We have a regular recruitment process for police officers, PCSOs and specials as well as for transferees.

"We can assure the public that we will continue to evaluate how we deploy our resources to ensure our communities are kept safe.”

The figures also showed that 91 per cent of officers in West Mercia Police, and 94 per cent of officers in Dyfed-Powys Police, work in frontline roles – across England and Wales, the rate is 92 per cent.

In March, 103,000 frontline officers were employed across 43 police forces in England and Wales.

The number of frontline officers has fallen year-on-year since 2015 – there are now nearly 7,700 fewer pairs of boots on the ground than four years ago.

But, last year, the total number of officers in England and Wales rose slightly, by 766 full-time employees.

The union representing police constables, the Police Federation of England and Wales, called the increase 'a fraction of what we have lost'.