Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Thursday, 11 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 March 2010. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Manpower

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in (a) 2000 and (b) 2009.

Answer: There were 121,956 police officers in the 43 police forces of England and Wales as at 31 March 2000 and 142,209 police officers as at 30 September 2009.This and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:"http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/policeorg1.html"and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.

Secondary information