South Yorkshire loses 559 police officers in seven years
South Yorkshire has 559 fewer officers fighting crime today than it did seven years ago, new figures reveal.
Government figures show South Yorkshire Police has 2,494 police officers today compared to 3,053 in 2009.
There are 124,066 police officers in England and Wales - down 2,752 on last year and 20,287 fewer than in 2009.
Neil Bowles, chairman of the South Yorkshire Police Federation, said it is no coincidence that crime is going up.
Figures released last week revealed that 280 crimes were recorded in South Yorkshire every day last year.
The Office for National Statistics figures revealed that between April 2015 and March 2016 there were 102,111 offences recorded in South Yorkshire - up nine per cent on the previous year.
Nationally crime has risen by eight per cent.
Mr Bowles said: “Let’s be clear - police numbers do matter. Less officers means less chance of people getting caught - there is no deterrent.”