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New figures show Staffordshire Police is one of a number of forces to have fewer officers than a year ago. Now calls have been made for increased funding...

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STAFFORDSHIRE Police has 16 fewer officers than it did a year ago, according to new figures released by the Home Office.

The county's tally of 1,997 full-time equivalent (FTE) officers makes it one of 27 of 43 forces in England and Wales to have a year-on-year fall.

The figures show the number of officers per force as of March 31.

The Metropolitan Police recorded the largest percentage drop (down 3%), followed by Humberside (down 2.5%), Hertfordshire (down 2.3%) and Wiltshire (down 2.2%).

The Met also had the largest numerical drop in officers, down 1,022 from 34,315 to 33,293.

Some 15 forces saw an increase in police officers, with Gloucestershire recording the largest percentage rise (up 2.9%), followed by Bedfordshire (up 1.6%), Gwent (up 1.3%) and Cheshire (up 1.1%).

The total number of FTE officers across the 43 police forces stood at 146,442 at the end of March 2025, down 1,303 or 0.9% from 147,745 a year earlier.