The
major police recruitment drive across England and Wales appears to have paid
dividends with the number of officers employed reaching record levels.
The
police has passed the Government’s target of having a 130,000-strong service,
six month early.
Official
figures show that in the 12 months to September, the number of officers rose by
4,337 to a total of 131,548 – the largest increase for a quarter of a century.
Home
Secretary David Blunkett said the recruitment drive was putting more police on
the streets and set a new target of 132,500 officers by 2004.
Blunkett
also announced that 43 police forces had recruited 1,281 community support
officers since the scheme was launched in December.
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