Police cuts mean more specials and volunteers, chief signals There are currently around 20,500 specials in the UK, up from 15,000 two years ago. Figures in July showed that the number of regular officers had dropped by just over three per cent in the previous year to 134,101, while specials had increased by more than 10 per cent. Speaking at a conference on the future of policing at the think tank Rusi in London, Ms Thornton said that, looking beyond 2015, "real transformations" were needed. She said Thames Valley had trebled the number of special in the last five years - now standing at 719 - and the force has a "significant volunteer programme." She said there was a "whole range of thinking about why is the community just left to professional police officers and key staff, and what sort of different relationship we can have with the community. I think that's a key area which is well known to be underdeveloped. The police chief also said Scotland Yard should maintain national control of counter-terrorism operations. Ministers have said they will look at whether counter-terrorism matters should be moved to the National Crime Agency when it is launched next year. But Ms Thornton said stopping dangerous terrorists at the border, preventing extremists targeting young people and helping to stop gunmen on the streets are all policing functions rather than ones for an agency. She warned moving control from the Metropolitan Police risked disrupting existing working relationships between the Met and the Security Service. The security response to the Olympics had shown the current system was not broken, she said. "Having been involved in CT policing for a few years it seems to me that counter-terrorism is a policing function rather than an agency function," said Ms Thornton, who is also vice chairwoman of Acpo's terrorism and allied matters group. Whether an officer is operating the border, stopping some of our most dangerous terrorists, working with community groups to prevent extremists taking hold of our young people or working with the military to tackle an active shooter, these are all policing roles. We need to be very careful about the sort of capabilities and whether they are policing capabilities or agency capabilities as we go forward.