§ Ms JowellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed in each police force area for each year since 1980; and how many were employed as beat officers. [32587]
§ Mr. MacleanInformation on police strength from 1980 to 1995 can be found in the appendix to the annual reports of Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary, copies of which are in the Library. Details of police strength for each force at March 1996 are set out in table A.
Information on the number of officers specifically assigned to beat duties is not available. Information on patrol strength in each force is available from 1991 and is set out in table B.
541W
Police strength in England and Wales as at 31 March 1996 Force Total police ranks Avon and Somerset 2,981 Bedfordshire 1,128 Cambridgeshire 1,238 Cheshire 1,975 City of London 869 Cleveland 1,420 Cumbria 1,115 Derbyshire 1,763 Devon and Cornwall 2,899 Dorset 1,263 Durham 1,401 Dyfed-Powys 991 Essex 2,884 Gloucestershire 1,133 Greater Manchester 6,938 Gwent 1,044 Hampshire 3,347 Hertfordshire 1,712 Humberside 2,041 Kent 3,120 Lancashire 3,171 Leicestershire 1,908 Lincolnshire 1,147 Merseyside 4,411 Metropolitan police 27,343 Norfolk 1,401 Northamptonshire 1,153 Northumbria 3,668 North Wales 1,378 North Yorkshire 1,324 Nottinghamshire 2,318 South Wales 3,027 South Yorkshire 3,073 Staffordshire 2,209 Suffolk 1,138 Surrey 1,644 Sussex 3,074 Thames Valley 3,674 Warwickshire 979 West Mercia 2,017 West Midlands 7,145 West Yorkshire 5,142 Wiltshire 1,219
Police strength—patrol1 Force 31 December 1991 31 December 1992 31 December 1993 31 March 1995 Avon and Somerset 1,748 1,693 1,617 1,625 Bedfordshire 603 521 580 518 Cambridgeshire 665 656 649 669 Cheshire 981 1,007 1,051 1,024 City of London 394 360 355 380 Cleveland 849 836 814 816 Cumbria 719 662 673 649 Derbyshire 943 1,045 988 947 Devon and Cornwall 1,579 1,728 1,690 1,661 Dorset 718 746 735 727 Durham 747 778 762 770 Dyfed-Powys 570 593 589 605 Essex 1,591 1,609 1,533 1,531 Gloucestershire 630 645 592 628 Greater Manchester 3,555 3,666 3,577 3,552 Gwent 616 606 611 599 Hampshire 1,888 1,703 1,980 1,980 Hertfordshire 966 926 996 970 Humberside 1,008 1,142 1,099 1,182 Kent 1,954 1,900 1,837 1,531 Lancashire 1,733 1,805 1,726 1,593 Leicestershire 1,087 970 1,003 1,020 Lincolnshire 737 713 761 736 Merseyside 2,389 2,453 2,488 2,573 Metropolitan police 13,286 14,392 14,561 14,684 Norfolk 811 804 799 807 North Wales 818 794 796 798 North Yorkshire 865 811 785 781 Northamptonshire 649 698 729 720 Northumbria 1,897 1,756 1,974 2,149 Nottinghamshire 1,337 1,311 1,349 1,284 South Wales 1,834 1,953 1,985 2,023 South Yorkshire 1,724 1,657 1,694 1,682 Staffordshire 1,091 1,304 1,234 1,314 Suffolk 665 713 732 706 Surrey 1,157 1,007 1,010 879 Sussex 1,870 1,799 1,710 1,543 Thames Valley 1,961 2,017 2,061 2,104 Warwickshire 510 475 510 471 West Mercia 1,320 1,167 1,256 1,199 West Midlands 3,780 3,702 3,524 3,546 West Yorkshire 2,865 2,710 2,616 2,707 Wiltshire 621 632 661 612 1Based on returns provided by police forces, showing officers who spend more than 50 per cent, of their time on patrol duties. These include foot, car, beat and dog patrol, and mounted officers.