20,000 extra police officer target on track

The government’s campaign to recruit 20,000 additional officers over the next three years is ahead of schedule, with almost 6,000 new officers joining up to the end of September.

One year on from the launch of the campaign, 5,824 extra officers have joined forces across England and Wales to the end of September 2020. This means recruitment is well ahead of schedule, as the government had pledged to bring in an additional 6,000 police officers by March 2021.

The Home Office says that new officers are working to help drive down crime and to make our streets safer, with statistics showing crime was already beginning to fall before the pandemic period began. Over recent weeks the police have also been keeping the public safe by stepping up enforcement against those flouting rules in place to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

The figures also show 12,675 new officers joined the 43 forces across England and Wales between November 2019 and September 2020. 5,824 of these were specifically recruited as part of the uplift programme. Others were recruited to backfill leavers or through locally funded recruitment.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Getting more police officers on our streets is a priority for the British people – therefore a priority for me. Just one year since we began recruiting, I am delighted that there are nearly 6,000 of the 20,000 additional officers on our streets cutting crime and making your communities safer.

“As we’ve seen from the frontline response to coronavirus, the work of each and every police officer helps to save lives and I would like to extend my gratitude to them, and to the new recruits, for joining the police and being a part of this heroic national effort.”