𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The number of police officers on the frontline has plummeted under Labour, new figures have revealed. Some 67,085 officers were classed as “visible operational frontline police officers”, down from 72,151 in 2024 and 76,866 in 2023, Home Office figures seen by the Daily Express reveal.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has vowed to reduce the number of “uniformed officers” in HR and IT support roles as they are not “tracking down suspects and attending callouts from victims”. Sources blamed the farce on rules which force chifes to hit “arbitrary” headcount targets. Ms Mahmood is expected to set out “radical” reforms to policing, which could see the number of forces reduced.

Government sources believe the falling number of bobbies on the beat has led to an increase in shoplifting, antisocial behaviour and phone thefts, with “brazen criminals believing they can get away with breaking the law without facing any real consequences.”

A Government source said: “Public confidence and trust fell to an all-time low in 2024. That is because the public believe that police have ‘given up’ on solving crimes like street theft, robbery and shop theft.

“The current levels of shop theft, phone theft, street crime and antisocial behaviour are plaguing communities.

“This has left too many town centres and high streets feeling abandoned.

“The number of trained police officers in desk-based support roles has soared by over 40% to more than 12,600 in the last six years as a result, while the total number of officers only increased by around 20% in the same period.

“Back-office roles filled by uniformed officers include HR and IT support. Back-office roles filled by uniformed officers include HR and IT support.

“This has led to forces hiring uniformed officers and then putting them in back-office roles, instead of being out in communities, tracking down suspects and attending call outs from victims.

“The Home Secretary will scrap this Officer Maintenance Grant, marking a significant shift to put more officers in our communities and high streets to fight crime and catch criminals.”

Sir Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said slashing the number of police forces will improve local policing.

He said on Sunday: “We are overdue big police reforms.

“The current policing model is a tweaked and bastardised version of what was designed in a 1962 royal commission.

“It is so out of date for the challenges today. A unique thing about where we are today, police leaders across the system were all of a common mindset that the system needs to change quite dramatically.

“So, you might say we’re prepared to be the turkeys who vote for Christmas in terms of fewer police forces.

“People will immediately say ‘this is going to damage local policing’ – quite the opposite.

“If you’ve got an overly bureaucratic, complicated, convoluted sort of spaghetti system, all of that complexity sucks resources away from the locals.

“If we sort out all the national arrangements, our ability to counter national and international threats improves.

“We’re never going to get the money that we would ideally need. The way we can succeed for the public is going to come through big investment in technology and technology-led reform.

“All of that is much easier to do on a better structure than this 43 forces plus a whole scattering of odd national bodies.

“That would be pretty dramatic root and branch reform… that’s exactly what I’m arguing for. And it’s difficult, it won’t be a straightforward path, but it is overdue.”