Neighbourhood police: One in seven officers axed were beat bobbies
Published February 1, 2018
On 1 February 2018, the Shared Data Unit reported out of around 11,000 police officers lost from 2012-17 across forces in England and Wales, 1,500 worked in neighbourhoods - around one in seven.
At the same time around nearly one in three PCSOs - originally intended to be the "eyes and ears" of the community - were also axed, according to our analysis of Home Office figures.
The government said it had promised an extra £450m for policing starting next year and nature of crime was changing; officers were now needed to deal with growing problems in non-traditional areas like online fraud and identity theft.
Local campaigners said a visible police presence in communities deterred criminals and helped to gather intelligence.
The Shared Data Hub makes data journalism available to news organisations across the media industry, as part of a partnership between the BBC and the News Media Association. Stories generated by the partnership included:
- Liverpool Echo: How many bobbies on the beat has Merseyside lost? You might be surprised...
- Belfast Telegraph: PSNI cuts result in 1,000 fewer officers on the beat
- Hull Daily Mail: Hull has more neighbourhood police officers on the beat now than five years ago
- East Anglian Daily Times: Suffolk and Essex propping up national table for neighbourhood police presence
- Planet Radio: Teesside lose nearly a QUARTER of its neighbourhood police officers - despite a warning they're the ones who can help prevent terror
- Lancashire Post: Lancashire's thinner blue line
- Portsmouth: The News: Councillor hunts down Portsmouth yobs after cuts mean no cop available
- Portsmouth: The News: The thin blue line is starting to look very threadbare
- Dorset Echo: Sharp rise in crime across Dorset - as county loses more than 100 police officers in five years
- Basingstoke Gazette: Hampshire police cut more than 500 front-line jobs in five years
- Sunderland Echo: Police numbers down as picture of budget cuts takes affect
- Devon Live: Latest figures show Devon has lost hundreds of front line police officers in five years
- Cheshire: The Leader: Are there really fewer bobbies on our streets in North Wales and Cheshire?
- The Huddersfield Daily Examiner: Police cuts in West Yorkshire threaten to leave communities 'in danger'
- West Bridgford Wire: Police officer numbers at lowest for six years
- Wigan Today: Police jobs cut by half in Wigan communities
- 2BR Lancashire: Lancashire's lost 25% of neighbourhood police
- Northamptonshire Telegraph: Police officers in Northamptonshire at lowest number since 2013
- Bradford: Telegraph & Argus: 50 per cent fall in number of neighbourhood policing officers in West Yorkshire
- Pirate FM: The cuts to neighbourhood policing in Cornwall and Devon
- Cumbria: Times & Star: Cumbria bucks national trend on neighbourhood policing
- Lincolnshire Reporter: Number of Lincolnshire Police neighbourhood officers and PCSOs plummets in five years
- Grantham Matters: Number of neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs plummets
- Cambridge News: How Cambridgeshire has kept its police officers amid £17m cuts
- Southern Daily Echo: Hampshire police cut more than 500 front-line jobs in five years
- Wales: Daily Post: Revealed: Extent of cuts to bobbies on the beat in North Wales
- Lancashire Telegraph: Latest figures show drop in officers on the beat numbers in Lancashire
- Chronicle Live: Neighbourhood policing: Drastic fall in number of local bobbies on the beat
- Daily Gazette and Essex County Standard: Essex Police working with 600 fewer officers than five years ago
- Northamptonshire Telegraph: Police officers in Northamptonshire at lowest number since 2013
- Cornwall Live: Nearly half of officers lost from Devon and Cornwall Police in the past five years according to latest Home Office figures
- Mix 96: Almost 260 fewer officers in Thames Valley compared to 2012
- Lincolnshire Live: Startling figures reveal neighbourhood police officers slashed by more than half
- Leeds Live: West Yorkshire Police axed 400 neighbourhood officers in the last year
- Shields Gazette: Police officer numbers fall as budget cuts hit force
- Hartlepool Mail: Number of beat bobbies falls as budget cuts hit
- Somerset Live: Nearly 400 fewer police on the streets of Avon and Somerset since 2012
- Gloucestershire Live: When did you last see a police officer? More than 100 neighbourhood cops lost from Gloucestershire's streets as violent crime hits record high
- Chronicle Live: Neighbourhood policing: Drastic fall in number of local bobbies on the beat
- Eastern Daily Press: 'It does worry you’ - victims voice fears after figures reveal Norfolk has lost more than half its neighbourhood police officers in five years
- Spirit FM: Cuts to neighbourhood policing in Sussex revealed
- Falmouth Packet: Devon and Cornwall Police cut neighbourhood officer number by half over past five years
- The Lowestoft Journal: Suffolk and Essex propping up national table for neighbourhood police presence
- Beccles & Bungay Journal: Suffolk and Essex propping up national table for neighbourhood police presence
- Rossendale Free Press: Rossendale Scribbler: Under-funding is reason thin blue line is becoming overstretched
- Bristol Post: Number of Police officers in Avon and Somerset is lowest for at least five years
- Worcester News: Bobbies on the beat down 14 per cent in five years - but police and rime commissioner John Campion vows to protect officer numbers
- Cambrian News: Dyfed-Powys Police bucks the trend with more officers
- The story was also covered by BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Radio 4 - World at One, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Kent, Good Morning Ulster, BBC Radio London, Midlands Today, North West Today, BBC Somerset, BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Wiltshire, BBC Radio Devon, BBC Radio Cornwall, BBC Radio Nottingham, BBC Radio Lincolnshire, BBC Radio Shropshire, BBC Radio Stoke, BBC WM, BBC Lancashire, BBC Hereford & Worcester, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire