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Police: Horses

Volume 477: debated on Tuesday 17 June 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) mounted police officers and (b) dog handlers were employed by each police force in each of the last five years. (208829)

The available data are given in the following tables.

Police officers (FTE)1 whose primary function2 is “dogs” for 2002-03 to 2006-07

Functions

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Avon and Somerset

47

45

45

45

45

Bedfordshire

19

18

17

18

17

Cambridgeshire

19

18

18

19

19

Cheshire

24

23

22

21

25

Cleveland

18

19

19

17

21

Cumbria

20

21

19

20

20

Derbyshire

24

24

24

24

24

Devon and Cornwall

48

47

48

49

46

Dorset

22

20

21

22

23

Durham

26

27

24

25

24

Dyfed Powys

19

19

20

19

20

Essex

46

45

48

48

48

Gloucestershire

16

14

17

17

17

Greater Manchester

116

118

90

96

87

Gwent

16

15

15

16

16

Hampshire

28

35

36

36

33

Hertfordshire

27

26

26

29

28

Humberside

28

28

27

27

27

Kent

48

n/a

45

47

43

Lancashire

41

35

36

30

29

Leicestershire

n/a

25

24

22

23

Lincolnshire

22

22

22

19

17

London, City of

18

17

18

18

18

Merseyside

31

32

35

45

44

Metropolitan Police

205

237

241

251

251

Norfolk

19

22

20

20

20

Northamptonshire

14

13

13

13

12

Northumbria

54

60

61

60

61

North Wales

12

12

15

11

12

North Yorkshire

23

23

21

21

20

Nottinghamshire

30

32

33

33

34

South Wales

43

40

43

39

42

South Yorkshire

52

50

44

48

48

Staffordshire

27

28

27

25

26

Suffolk

14

14

13

13

13

Surrey

34

36

33

34

35

Sussex

49

48

51

47

48

Thames Valley

43

40

39

40

41

Warwickshire

15

15

16

16

14

West Mercia

35

37

38

37

37

West Midlands

69

69

67

69

66

West Yorkshire

62

68

61

58

56

Wiltshire

15

15

17

18

18

n/a = Not available.

1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between the totals in this table and totals in similar published tables.

2 Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables. Dog handlers including those employed for general policing, drugs and explosive detection duties. Including staff who are predominately employed within dogs sections other that dog handlers. Including those officers in supporting roles.

Note:

Overall force totals including those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The data in the function breakdown are from unpublished sources and therefore totals may not match totals found in the published data.

Police officers (FTE)1 whose primary function2 is “mounted” for 2002-03 to 2006-07

Functions

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Avon and Somerset

10

14

11

11

10

Bedfordshire

0

0

0

0

0

Cambridgeshire

0

0

0

0

0

Cheshire

0

0

0

0

0

Cleveland

10

10

9

10

10

Cumbria

0

0

0

0

0

Derbyshire

0

0

0

0

0

Devon and Cornwall

0

0

0

0

0

Dorset

0

0

0

0

0

Durham

0

0

0

0

0

Dyfed Powys

0

0

0

0

0

Essex

0

0

0

0

0

Gloucestershire

0

0

0

0

0

Greater Manchester

40

47

49

45

32

Gwent

0

0

0

0

0

Hampshire

0

0

0

0

0

Hertfordshire

0

0

0

0

0

Humberside

7

7

7

6

7

Kent

0

n/a

0

0

0

Lancashire

16

15

15

15

16

Leicestershire

0

0

0

0

0

Lincolnshire

0

0

0

0

0

London, City of

9

12

12

10

11

Merseyside

24

27

25

25

27

Metropolitan Police

120

123

124

145

141

Norfolk

0

0

0

0

0

Northamptonshire

0

0

0

0

0

Northumbria

g

7

9

9

11

North Wales

0

0

0

0

0

North Yorkshire

0

0

0

0

0

Nottinghamshire

8

8

8

7

7

South Wales

8

9

9

10

9

South Yorkshire

16

n/a

16

16

16

Staffordshire

0

0

0

0

0

Suffolk

0

0

0

0

0

Surrey

0

0

0

0

0

Sussex

0

0

0

0

0

Thames Valley

9

9

8

9

10

Warwickshire

0

0

0

0

0

West Mercia

0

0

0

0

0

West Midlands

0

0

0

0

0

West Yorkshire

26

26

26

26

23

Wiltshire

0

0

0

0

0

n/a = Not available.

1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between the totals in this table and totals in similar published tables.

2 Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables. Staff who predominately conduct mounted patrol duties, including supervisors. Including those officers in supporting roles.

Note:

Overall force totals including those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The data in the function breakdown are from unpublished sources and therefore totals may not match totals found in the published data.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual cost was of maintaining (a) the mounted police section and (b) the police dogs unit in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area. (208830)

The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

This is an operational matter for each police authority and chief officer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police horses and (b) police dogs were injured in the line of duty in each of the last five years; (208831)

(2) how many (a) horses and (b) dogs were used by each police force in each of the last five years.