Hundreds of new police officers to be recruited in South Yorkshire - but it will take years to replace number lost since 2010

South Yorkshire Police will be able to recruit hundreds of new officers but it will be another three years before they surpass the number serving the county a decade ago, a report has shown.
By George Torr, Local Democracy Reporter
Published 27th Feb 2020, 16:00 BST
Updated 6th Mar 2020, 12:30 BST
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Reports published by South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner (SYPCC) show South Yorkshire Police (SYP) will receive £16.8 million from the Home Office in order to recruit officers until March 2021.

The force estimate they will be able to create 487 new police officer positions and along with replacements for those who leave or retire, the total officer number could surpass 2010 levels of over 3,000.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Data published by the House of Commons Library shows SYP had 2,953 frontline officers in 2010 down to 2,370 in 2019.

A police officer responds to an emergency incident in Sheffield. Picture: Alex Cousins/SWNSA police officer responds to an emergency incident in Sheffield. Picture: Alex Cousins/SWNS
A police officer responds to an emergency incident in Sheffield. Picture: Alex Cousins/SWNS

SYP bosses hope to have 2,401 officers by the end of March 2020.

The force needs to employ a further 779 ‘business as usual’ numbers by March 2023 in order to replace employees who are due to leave or have retirement planned.

Michael Clements, chief finance and commissioning officer at SYPCC, said: “In total, 274 new police officer posts will have been created and filled between April 2019 and March 2021.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This is in addition to recruiting to fill vacancies that arise from the ‘business as usual’ existing police officer workforce.

“South Yorkshire anticipates its share of the full 20,000 ‘Uplift’ officers will be 487 by 2023, although the precise number and the Home Office’s approach to grant funding the further 14,000 after 2020/21 won’t be confirmed until the Spending Review is published.”