Police numbers hit ten year low There are now just 135,838 officers England and Wales, the lowest since 2002, following a four per cent cut in the first real signs of the impact of the budget cuts sweeping the country. The figures, which show the number of police officers fell by more than 3,000 from last March alone, came as Gloucestershire Police Chief Constable Tony Melville warned of the dangers of further cuts to his force's budget, saying it put them on a "metaphorical cliff edge." While officer numbers fell 4.2 per cent, police staff numbers across the 43 forces fell 11.3 per cent down by almost 9,000 to 69,407, the figures showed. But the number of special constables - volunteers - went up by more than 2,500 or 15.5 per cent to 19,366. Only one force, Surrey, increased its officer numbers over the 12 months to last September, up 97 to 1,961. The number of community support officers (PCSOs) also fell, down by 907 to 15,469.