§ Mr. Mark FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers were employed by the Metropolitan Police on 1 January 2004. [170871]
§ Ms BlearsOn 1 January 2004 the Metropolitan Police Service employed 1157 Community Support Officers.
§ Mr. Mark FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fully qualified police officers were employed by the Metropolitan police on(a) 1 May 1997 and (b) 1 January. [170872]
§ Ms BlearsInformation on police numbers is collected quarterly. The Metropolitan Police Service had 26,677 police officers on 31 March 1997. This had increased to a record number of 29,441 officers on 31 December 2003. All police officers are available for duty from the day of joining the force.
Additionally the Metropolitan police had 12,093 police staff and 1,431 Community Support Officers at the end of December 2003.
§ Mr. Mark FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the total Metropolitan police uniformed force is accounted for by police community support officers. [170997]
§ Ms BlearsThe Metropolitan Police Service does not keep records of which Police Officers and staff members are currently working in uniform. The table shows the total strength of Police Officers, Staff, Traffic Wardens and Community Support Officers as of 1 January 2004. Community Support Officers account for 2.7 per cent. of the total strength of the force.
572W
Personnel Strength Police officers 29,886.27 Police staff (excluding CSOs and Traffic Wardens) 11,772.59 Traffic Wardens 543.30 Community Support Officers 1,157.14 Total 43,359.3
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) traffic police, (b) mounted police, (c) police dog handlers, (d) armed response team officers and (e) Criminal Investigation Department officers there are in Lancashire. [171232]
§ Ms BlearsPublished information on police strength by police force area is available for rank, gender and ethnicity but not function. Figures on Police Strength for March 2003, were published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 11/03, copies of which are available in the library or on the internet site: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hosbpubsl.html.
§ Mr. BorrowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in full-time police officers in South Ribble has been since 1997. [171659]
§ Ms BlearsSouth Ribble is in the Southern Basic Command Unit (BCU) of Lancashire Constabulary. BCU strength figures are only available for March 2002 and 2003. The information is given in the table.
Strength Percentage change 31 March 2002 462 — 31 March 2003 500 +8.2