Number of police officers in the UK 2023, by police force

London's Metropolitan Police is by far the largest police force in the United Kingdom with 34,889 officers in 2023. At 16,615 officers, the Scottish police force has the second largest force in terms of officer numbers, followed by Greater Manchester police force, which had 8,014 officers in this year. Although the Metropolitan Police cover policing in most of Greater London, the City of London Police force are responsible for the historic center of London, which is around one square mile in size, and numbered 1,001 officers in 2023.  Crime in the UKIn 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 yearsBetween 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.

伦敦大都会警察局无疑是英国最大的警察力量，截至2023年，其拥有34,889名警官。苏格兰警察力量以16,615名警官的数量位居第二，其后为曼彻斯特大都会警察局，今年共有8,014名警官。尽管大都会警察局负责监管大部分大伦敦地区的警务工作，但伦敦市警察局则负责守护伦敦历史中心区域，该区域面积约为一平方英里，2023年共有1,001名警官。在英国，2022/23年度警方记录的犯罪案件约为6,740万起，这是自2003年至2023年间报告年度中记录犯罪案件数量最多的一年。尽管自2005年至2015年间犯罪率有所下降，但自2014/15年以来，犯罪案件数量明显增加。就犯罪率而言，英格兰和威尔士的犯罪率在英国最高，每千人中有93.6起犯罪，而苏格兰为52.8起，北爱尔兰为58.4起。近年来，警察预算削减趋势得到逆转。在2010年至2017年期间，英国警察的数量从172,000名减少至仅150,000名。在同一时期，伦敦大都会警察局的警官数量减少了约2,000名。警察人员数量的减少是受全国范围内资金削减的影响，在此期间，警察支出从2009/10年的193亿英镑降至2013/14年的163.5亿英镑。此后，该政策得以逆转，当前英国政府正寻求招募更多警官，并普遍增加对警察服务的投入。截至2023年，英国共有171,000名警察，政府对警察服务的支出为253亿英镑。