• Newly released figures show that 2,952 police officers in the Metropolitan Police and 60 police officers in the City of London Police have been recruited as part of the Conservative Government’s pledge to put 20,000 more officers on the streets by March 2023.
• Since the recruitment drive was launched in 2019, the 43 police forces across England and Wales have seen an additional 13,790 police officers recruited, putting the Government on track to deliver on its manifesto promise.
• The additional police for the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police forces build on the Conservative Government’s Beating Crime Plan and Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act – aimed at reducing crime, protecting victims and making the country safer. 

Nickie Aiken, Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster, has welcomed the announcement that 2,952 police officers in the Metropolitan Police and 60 police officers in the City of London Police have been recruited since September 2019, bringing the total number of officers up to 34,895 in the Metropolitan Police and 869 in the City of London Police.

The latest figures are part of the Conservative Government’s drive to get 20,000 more police officers on the street by March 2023, and puts the Government on track to fulfil its manifesto commitment with 69 per cent of the target now met.

Across the 43 police forces, an additional 13,790 officers have been recruited, bringing the total number of police officers in England and Wales to 142,759 – where they are already having an impact in tackling crime and keeping communities safe.

The latest figures also show that the police are more representative of the communities they serve. More than four in ten new recruits since April 2020 are female and nearly 12 per cent of new recruits identify as belonging to a Black, Asian, Mixed or other minority ethnic group.

In the past year, police in England and Wales have removed 16,000 dangerous weapons from our streets through stop and search, disrupted over 600 organised crime groups, and made over 8,000 arrests as a result of a national crackdown on County Lines drug dealing.

The 13,790 extra officers will support the Conservative Government’s crackdown on crime, which has seen the launch of the Beating Crime Plan and the passing of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act through the House of Commons.

The Beating Crime Plan – aimed at reducing crime, protecting victims, and making the country safer – will see investments in school-based interventions methods, increased tagging to reduce repeat and substance-fuelled offences, and ensures that offenders give back to their communities through unpaid work.

The Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act – gives the police the resources they need to crack down on crime, including additional powers to tackle disruptive protests, increased sentences for the most dangerous offenders, and additional protections for women and girls.

This builds on the action already taken by the Conservative Government – including boosting police funding to a record £15.8 billion and investing £150 million through the Safer Streets Fund over the next three years into community projects to prevent crime – with a focus on neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls.

Commenting, Nickie said,

“From working with our local police force, I know just how valuable 3,012 more police officers will be in helping crack down on crime in our local community.

“The 2,952 Metropolitan Police and 60 City of London Police additional recruits mean there are now 34,895 Metropolitan Police and 869 City of London Police officers in the Two Cities, helping to pursue criminals, keep neighbourhoods safe, and reassure the law-abiding majority.

“These figures also reveal that where Labour are in power, they are failing to deliver. Once again this demonstrates that only the Conservatives can be trusted to keep people safe and deliver on the priorities of the British people”.

Notes to Editors

• Home Office figures show 13,790 extra police officers have been recruited nationally in Q2 2022 (Home Office, Official Statistics, 27 July 2022, link).

• Home Office figures show 2,952 additional police officers in the Metropolitan Police and 60 extra police officers in the City of London Police have been recruited since September 2019 (Home Office, Official Statistics, 27 July 2022, link).

• More than four in ten new police recruits are women and nearly 12 per cent are from an ethnic minority. Female officers accounted for 42.4 per cent of new joiners between since April 2020 and 11.7 per cent (who stated their ethnicity) identified as ethnic minorities (Home Office, Official Statistics, 27 July 2022, link).

• The Government has promised to recruit 20,000 extra police officers by 2023. The police recruitment drive is the biggest in decades and follows the Prime Minister’s commitment to increase police numbers over the next 3 years (Home Office, News Story, 5 September 2019, link).

• The Government’s Beating Crime Plan and Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act introduce a range of reforms to policing in England and Wales. Measures include increased tagging to reduce repeat and substance-fuelled offences, and ensuring that offenders give back to their communities through unpaid work (UK Government, Beating Crime Plan, 27 July 2021, link).

• The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act has introduced tougher sentences for criminals and provides additional resources to police. Measures include additional powers to tackle disruptive protests, increased sentences for the most dangerous offenders, and additional protections for women and girls (Home Office, Policy Paper, 7 July 2021, link).

• The Government is giving neighbourhoods the money they need to ‘target harden’ their homes and streets through the Safer Streets Programme, making it harder to commit crimes. £150 million is being invested through the Safer Streets Fund over the next three years into community projects to prevent crime – with a focus on neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls (Home Office, News Story, 25 July 2022, link).