Police forces have more officers per head of population than in 1960s

THE police have more officers per head of population than in the Sixties, challenging claims that they are understaffed, figures show.

Despite claims that forces are struggling with personnel shortages, analysis of Home Office data shows that in 1961 there were 807 people for every officer in England and Wales, whereas figures from a House of Commons briefing paper suggest has dropped to 462 people for every officer.

Several forces, as well as Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, have been claiming that cutbacks have left forces struggling to function properly.

The police were criticised last week after The Daily Telegraph’s data analysis showed that nine out of 10 burglaries had been left unsolved.

And the Metropolitan Police said it would no longer look into lower-level crime as a result of spending cuts, while coming under fire for awarenessraising stunts such as officers painting their nails to highlight modern slavery.

The figures, which appeared in The Mail on Sunday, suggest that the number of police today compares favourably with previous decades. While police numbers rose during the 1980s, they fell to a 10-year low at the end of the 1990s. The figure rose sharply in the 2000s, reaching a high of 141,647 in 2009.

Crime levels of 1961 and today are markedly different. In 1961, 806,900 crimes were committed, whereas ONS data shows that 5.2 million crimes were recorded this year, 13 per cent up from last year. According to a recent crime survey for England and Wales, crime peaked in 1995.

Previous analysis of rising crime suggested it was partly down to changes in methods of recording crime, as well as the criminalisation of drug use and the rising value of people’s property.

A National Police Chiefs Council spokesman said: “Policing in 2017 is very different to in the 1960s. We are dealing with an unprecedented terror threat, police recorded crime is up 13 per cent and forces are dealing with more complex, resource-intensive crime like modern slavery, child sexual exploitation, cybercrime and online fraud.

“Our mission is also wider, acting as the service of last resort for people who have fallen through the gaps of other services as well as providing effective local policing. We are meeting these challenges with officer numbers at the same level as they were in 1985.”

Nick Hurd, minister for policing and the fire service, said: “This Government has protected overall police funding in real terms since the 2015 Spending Review and maintained that protection in a fair funding deal this year.”

Figures show that since 2010, the proportion of officers working on the front line has increased and is at more than 93 per cent.

The Home Office has previously said that according to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary there is “considerable scope to improve efficiency”.