Number of police officers in the UK 2021, by police force

London's Metropolitan Police is by far the largest police force in the United Kingdom with 32,954 officers in 2021. At 17,283 officers, the Scottish police has the second largest force in terms of officer numbers, followed by the West Midlands police force, which had 7,186 officers in 2021. Although the Metropolitan Police cover policing in most of Greater London, the City of London Police force are responsible for the historic center of London, which is around one square mile in size, and numbered 849 officers in 2021.

 Crime in the UK

In 2020/21 there approximately 5.45 million crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, the fewest crimes recorded in a reporting year since 2016/17 when there were 4.98 million. In the intervening years, crime rose to a high of 6.08 million annual offences in 2019/20, before falling to the levels seen in the most recent year. In terms of the crime rate, England and Wales had the highest in the United Kingdom, at 77.6 offences per one thousand people, compared with 45.1 in Scotland, and 49.8 in Northern Ireland.

Falling officer numbers

Between 2010 and 2017 the number of police officers in the UK fell by approximately 22 thousand. During this same period, the London Metropolitan Police saw officer numbers decline by around two thousand officers. The fall in officer numbers was a result of UK-wide funding cuts, during this time period, with police expenditure falling from 19.3 billion in 2009/10 to 16.35 billion by 2013/14.