Figures for each year (as at 31 March) from 1996 to 2009 appear in the table.
The first police community support officers started work in September 2002, following legislation which was introduced as part of the Police Reform Act 2002. Therefore, data on police community support officers are not available prior to 31 March 2003.
Number 1996 2,041 1997 2,045 1998 2,021 1999 1,974 2000 1,932 2001 1,917 2002 2,058 20033 2,105 20043 2,213 20053 2,230 20063 2,224 20073 2,227 20083 2,216 20093 2,078 1 Full-time equivalent. All officers less staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with previously published figures). 2 This table contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. 3 Comparable strength (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison.
Number 2003 0 2004 0 2005 20 2006 20 2007 194 2008 318 2009 321 1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. 2 Full-time equivalent include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 3 Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data is not available prior to 2002-03.