§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there are in(a) West Somerset and (b) South Somerset (i) in absolute terms, (ii) per head of population and (iii) per notifiable offence; and if he will make a statement. [75842]
Mr. John Denharn[holding answer 22 October 2002]: Police strength information at force level is collected twice a year in March and September. Information for individual divisions/basic command units is not collected centrally.
As at 31 March 2002 Avon and Somerset Constabulary employed 3,096 police officers (full time equivalents). This is a record level. The force had 204.8 officers per 100,000 population. There were 178,991 recorded crimes in Avon and Somerset in 2001–2002, 57.8 crimes per officer.