The available data are given in the following table:
31 March each year Police force 2003 2004 20054 20064 20074 20084 Avon and Somerset 0 45 139 130 302 377 Bedfordshire 0 12 40 41 83 120 Cambridgeshire 6 57 86 101 184 197 Cheshire 2 50 52 75 176 231 Cleveland 37 77 75 100 114 170 Cumbria 0 0 17 17 85 99 Derbyshire 0 0 43 42 181 166 Devon and Cornwall 19 51 74 74 317 354 Dorset 6 8 47 61 122 151 Durham 10 28 69 67 142 162 Essex 10 86 179 192 388 436 Gloucestershire 0 54 72 72 169 162 Greater Manchester 160 173 269 251 763 773 Hampshire 0 0 26 30 296 324 Hertfordshire 14 46 98 139 223 246 Humberside 0 0 20 20 194 318 Kent 0 59 105 97 203 377 Lancashire 77 110 161 184 374 400 Leicestershire 28 41 103 136 216 212 Lincolnshire 29 38 75 78 147 165 London, City of 0 0 14 11 36 46 Merseyside 40 72 170 196 332 407 Metropolitan Police 513 1,463 2,147 2,315 3,694 4,247 Norfolk 12 33 68 65 176 274 Northamptonshire 12 10 37 40 129 159 Northumbria 0 51 126 129 248 254 North Yorkshire 0 52 75 71 147 180 Nottinghamshire 10 56 108 112 217 259 South Yorkshire 14 59 124 121 302 334 Staffordshire 0 7 63 70 203 209 Suffolk 0 15 34 30 123 140 Surrey 21 56 115 126 203 211 Sussex 22 83 228 257 352 372 Thames Valley 0 7 98 130 213 521 Warwickshire 11 25 56 64 127 133 West Mercia 8 57 81 85 217 272 West Midlands 0 39 219 252 644 748 West Yorkshire 70 265 394 462 690 757 Wiltshire 15 23 41 57 121 147 Dyfed-Powys 0 5 25 26 77 73 Gwent 30 45 77 76 105 139 North Wales 0 0 59 58 145 159 South Wales 0 59 107 111 314 327 Total England and Wales 1,176 3,418 6,214 6,769 13,497 15,805 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 totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2 Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 3 Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. 4 Strength figures as at 31 March 2005 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table.