POLICE numbers have plummeted under Labour — despite promises to put more bobbies on the beat.
There are 1,318 fewer coppers than at this time a year ago, data released yesterday shows.
The total of 145,550 full-time officers in England and Wales is down from a peak of 147,745 in 2024.
The decline has been driven almost entirely by a sharp drop at the Metropolitan Police, the country’s largest police force.
It reported a net fall of 1,461 — or 4.3 per cent.
On Monday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said police forces should not be judged by the number of officers they employed.
And Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council said there was an over-emphasis on police numbers.
It comes days after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the biggest shake-up to policing in the past 200 years.
The number of forces could be slashed from 43 to 12, with a wider use of facial recognition and AI.
Ministers have already committed to recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood policing officers by 2029, with 3,000 expected to start this year.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is a day of shame for Shabana Mahmood whose plans earlier this week had nothing to say about increasing or even maintaining overall police numbers.
“Falling police officer and police staff numbers means fewer police to investigate crimes, patrol the streets and respond to 999 calls.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “These figures show almost 2,400 more neighbourhood officers across the country in the past six months — getting police out on the streets, where the public want them.
“This Government has increased police funding by nearly £2billion.”
