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<p>The Home Office does not hold centrally the information requested.</p><p>The Home
Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers and Police
Community Support Officers (PCSOs), including the primary role that these officers
perform, by police force area. Data are not available at the borough level.</p><p>The
latest data available on the number of police officers and PCSOs in the Metropolitan
Police Service, and their primary role, as at 31 March 2017 can be found in the Tables
F1 and F3 of the police workforce statistics published in July 2017: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629865/police-workforce-tabs-jul17.ods"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629865/police-workforce-tabs-jul17.ods</a></p><p>Data
as at 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2016 can be found in the Tables F4 (for police officers)
and Tables F3 and F6 (for PCSOs) of the police workforce statistics published in July
2016: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/544954/police-workforce-tabs-jul16.ods"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/544954/police-workforce-tabs-jul16.ods</a></p><p>Previous
data were collected under a different framework, with different definitions, and are
therefore not directly comparable with data as at 31 March 2015 or 2016. Data have
been published since 2012, and can be found in the supplementary data tables of the
relevant police workforce publications via the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales</a></p><p>Officers
and PCSOs with multiple responsibilities or designations are recorded under their
primary function. The data do not therefore provide a complete picture of all officers
assigned to neighbourhood policing functions.</p><p>Some forces are not able to make
a clear distinction between ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ roles and ‘Incident (Response)
Management’ roles, therefore those forces record the majority of, or all, employees
under just one function. A more reliable measure is the number of officers employed
in ‘Local policing’ roles, which includes both neighbourhood and response functions.</p><p>Any
comparisons at force level should be made with care due to collaboration arrangements
between forces for particular functions. Additionally, police functions data are often
affected by re-structuring within police forces. Therefore comparisons over time for
specific functions should be made with care.</p><p>Decisions on the size and composition
of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their
Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities.</p>
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