
The number of police officers in England and Wales has dropped by more than 1,300 in 12 months and is now 2,000 below the peak reached in 2024, new figures show.
A total of 145,550 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers were in post across the 43 territorial police forces at the end of September 2025, a drop of 1,318 (0.9%) on the previous year.