§ 1992. Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish figures showing the total number of custody officers in each police force in England and Wales in(a) 1980, (b) 1985 and (c)
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe post of custody officer was introduced by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which did not come into effect until 1 January 1986. The table shows the total number of custody officers in 1992 in those police forces in England and Wales for which figures are available. I understand that those forces for which figures are not shown appoint custody officers from their complement of sergeants as and when they are needed.
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Custody officers in police forces in England and Wales for 1992 Force title Number of custody officers in post Avon and Somerset 64 Bedfordshire 15 Cambridgeshire 25 Cheshire 32 City of London n/a Cleveland 25 Cumbria 29 Derbyshire 21 Devon and Cornwall 40 Dorset 10 Durham 31 Dyfed Powys 12 Essex 38 Gloucestershire 22 Greater Manchester 273 Gwent 21 Hampshire 6 Hertfordshire 46 Humberside 57 Kent 12 Lancashire 98 Leicestershire 49 Lincolnshire 13 Metropolitan n/a Merseyside 27 Northumbria 81 North Wales 23 Norfolk 14 Northamptonshire 21 North Yorkshire 14 Nottinghamshire 64 South Wales 63 South Yorkshire 27 Staffordshire 58 Suffolk 12 Surrey n/a Sussex n/a Thames Valley 45 Warwickshire 23 West Mercia 9 West Midlands 201 West Yorkshire 47 Wiltshire 17 Total 1,685