Police spend one-fifth of their time completing back-office duties such as HR, IT and finance, research has shown.
A report into how forces spend their time – and £13.5bn a year – also found just one-third of police time is spent on the beat, and just 13% is dedicated to investigating crime, according to the Daily Mail.
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Helpling the public takes up half police officers’ time, according to the Where Are The Police report, compiled by all 43 forces and based on 243,000 officers and staff.
Conservative home affairs spokesman Chris Grayling said police bureaucracy was a problem.