West Mercia Police Sees Sharp Drop in New Officer Recruitment

I saw some interesting info about the police. Someone got data from Worcester News. It was a Freedom of Information request. New officer numbers are down, way down.

In 2022/23, 340 new people joined. Then, in 2023/24, it dropped to 247. So far in 2024/25, only 142 signed up. West Mercia Police covers a big area. Think Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Worcestershire.

Last year, they got 247 new officers. Yet, total active officers went up by only 31. This means about 216 officers left the force. This happened between April 2023 and April 2024.

Since April 2019, things have looked better initially. They hired 1,573 officers. However, active officers only increased by 536. Odd, right? John Campion commented on recruiting.

He said their process keeps officer numbers high. He is West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner. The police have more officers than ever now.

Active officer count went from 1,979. It grew to 2,515 by April 2024. But, the chief constable has said some jobs might be lost. About 150 positions are potentially at risk. They have funding gaps and money problems.

The chief constable said they will keep serving the public. He stated they are finding savings to reduce impact. Difficult personnel decisions occurred because of finances. Someone asked if they hired too many officers quickly. Campion still supports frontline police. He said this despite West Mercia Police’s money issues.