London's Metropolitan Police is by far the largest police force in the United Kingdom with 34,315 officers in 2024. At 16,356 officers, the Scottish police force has the second-largest force in terms of officer numbers, followed by Greater Manchester police force, which had 8,141 officers that year. Although the Metropolitan Police are responsible for policing most of Greater London, the City of London Police force covers the historic center of London, which is around one square mile in size, and numbered 995 officers in 2024. Crime in the UK In 2022/23 there were approximately 6.74 million crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, the highest number of crimes recorded in a reporting year between 2003 and 2023. Although crime declined from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s there has been a noticeable increase in crimes from 2014/15 onwards. In terms of the crime rate, England and Wales had the highest in the United Kingdom, at 93.6 offences per one thousand people, compared with 52.8 in Scotland, and 58.4 in Northern Ireland. Cuts to policing reversed in recent years Between 2010 and 2017 the number of police officers in the UK fell from 172,000 officers to just 150,000. During this same period, the London Metropolitan Police saw officer numbers decline by around 2,000 officers. The fall in police personnel 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. This policy has since been reversed, and the current UK government is seeking to recruit more officers and generally spend more on the police service. As of 2023, there were 171 police officers in the UK, and government expenditure on the police service was 25.3 billion British pounds.

There were 147,746 police officers in England and Wales in 2024, the highest number of police officers during this provided time period. Between 2010 and 2018 the number of police officers in England and Wales fell from 143,734 to 122,405, with numbers increasing again from 2019 onwards.

Police recorded crime figures by Police Force Area and Community Safety Partnership areas (which equate in the majority of instances, to local authorities).

There were 35,310 police officers in London in 2024, a decline when compared with the previous year. The majority of police officers in London work for the Metropolitan Police service, which is responsible for policing most of the UK capital, with the City of London Police only responsible for policing the historical center of the city, an area the size of around one square mile.

This file contains the names and codes for police force areas in the United Kingdom as at 31st December 2023. (File Size - 16 KB) Field Names - PFA23CD, PFA23NMField Types - Text, TextField Lengths - 9, 19

The police workforce of the United Kingdom has fluctuated significantly recently, reaching a peak of 296,000 workers in the third quarter of 2009, before falling to 245,000 workers by 2017. There has been a recent uptick in the number of people working for the police since 2017, with the police workforce in the most recent quarter reaching 282,000.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Police Force Areas, in England and Wales, as at December 2023.

This file contains the names and codes for police force areas in the United Kingdom as at 31st December 2023. (File Size - 16 KB) Field Names - PFA23CD, PFA23NMField Types - Text, TextField Lengths - 9, 19

This file contains the names and codes for police force areas in the United Kingdom as at 31 December 2016. (File Size - 16 KB)REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Police_Force_Areas_Dec_2016_Names_and_Codes_in_the_United_Kingdom_2022/FeatureServer

Domestic abuse numbers, prevalence and types, by region and police force area, using annual data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, police recorded crime and a number of different organisations.

As of 2024, 62.5 percent of police constables in England and Wales were males, compared with 35.4 percent who were female. Higher up in the police ranks, the share of females is lower, with 72 percent of police sergeants and 72.5 percent of inspectors being men. The highest rank of Chief Officer has a distribution of 71.4 percent male Chief Officers and 28.6 percent female Chief Officers.

This file contains the names and codes for police force areas in the United Kingdom as at 31 December 2022. (File Size - 16 KB) Field Names - PFA22CD, PFA22NMField Types - Text, TextField Lengths - 9, 19

4In 2022, there were 26,414 frontline police officers working for the London Metropolitan Police compared with 27,049 in the previous year, and 23,106 in 2019, when the number of frontline police officers in London was the lowest in the provided time period.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Police Force Areas, in England and Wales, as at December 2023.