Police workforce

Published 19 April 2018

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• as at 31 March 2017, 93.7% of police officers were White (including White ethnic minorities), and 6.3% came from all other ethnic groups
• between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of police officers from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined increased from 3.9% to 6.3%
• as at 31 March 2017, 3.7% of officers in senior ranks were from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined, compared with 2.8% in 2007
• in the population of England and Wales as a whole, 86% of people were White (including White ethnic minorities), and 14% were from all other ethnic groups, according to population data from the 2011 Census

Things you need to know

Staff are counted by their full-time equivalent (FTE) – for example, someone who works 2.5 days a week is counted as 0.5 FTE.

Special constables are volunteers with variable hours, so are counted per head.

Data is derived from the personnel records for the 43 police forces in England and Wales, and the British Transport Police.

Population estimates are based on the 2011 Census (the latest available figures). It is likely that there have been some population changes since 2011 that aren't accounted for in this data. For that reason, these figures should be considered estimates only.

Since the British Transport Police covers all of England and Wales, a rate per population per region has not been calculated. Similarly, the City of London Police serves a very large daytime population compared with its number of residents, so it is not meaningful to show a rate per population for this force.

Percentages have been calculated using only staff whose ethnicity was known. The numbers of staff with unknown ethnicity are included in the tables. Overall, ethnicity was known for 97.9% of police officers.

What the data measures

This data measures the percentage of the police workforce coming from the Asian, Black, Mixed, White and Other ethnic groups, and compares it with overall population statistics.

The data is a snapshot taken at 31 March each year.

The police workforce includes police officers, staff, police community support officers (PCSOs), designated officers and special constables.

The ethnic categories used in this data

Staff working for the police in England and Wales report their own ethnicity based on the following 5 broad groups:

• Asian/Asian British
• Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
• Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
• White (including White ethnic minority groups)
• Other ethnic group (including Chinese)

2. Police workforce by ethnicity

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2017

Percentage and number of police officers, compared with overall population (at 2011 Census), by ethnicity

Ethnicity	% of police officers	% of population (2011)	Number of police officers
Asian	2.6	6.8	3,104
Black	1.2	3.3	1,432
Mixed	1.8	2.2	2,185
White	93.7	86.0	112,954
Other	0.7	1.7	851
Unknown	N/A*	N/A*	2,616

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce Police workforce by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• as at March 2017, the equivalent of 123,142 full-time police officers were employed in the 43 police forces in England and Wales (excluding the British Transport Police), and 112,954 (93.7%) of those were from the White ethnic group

• Black people made up 1.2% of police officers, Asian people made up 2.6%, those of Mixed ethnicity made up 1.8%, and 0.7% of officers were from the Other ethnic group (including Chinese officers)

3. Police workforce by ethnicity over time

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2007 to 2017
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2017

Percentage and number of police officers by ethnicity over time

	Asian		Black		Mixed		White		Other		Unknown
Year	Asian % of police officers	Asian Number of police officers	Black % of police officers	Black Number of police officers	Mixed % of police officers	Mixed Number of police officers	White % of police officers	White Number of police officers	Other % of police officers	Other Number of police officers	Unknown % of police officers	Unknown Number of police officers
2007	1.5	2,111	1.0	1,350	1.0	1,419	96.1	134,372	0.5	632	N/A*	1,999
2008	1.6	2,231	1.0	1,371	1.1	1,525	95.9	134,000	0.5	656	N/A*	1,920
2009	1.7	2,472	1.0	1,427	1.2	1,699	95.6	135,651	0.5	689	N/A*	1,839
2010	1.8	2,607	1.0	1,446	1.3	1,844	95.3	135,293	0.5	745	N/A*	1,799
2011	1.9	2,582	1.0	1,442	1.3	1,838	95.2	130,870	0.5	754	N/A*	1,625
2012	2.0	2,607	1.1	1,420	1.4	1,871	95.0	125,579	0.6	766	N/A*	1,858
2013	2.0	2,563	1.1	1,361	1.5	1,865	94.9	121,086	0.6	749	N/A*	1,961
2014	2.1	2,665	1.1	1,352	1.5	1,922	94.7	119,071	0.6	776	N/A*	2,124
2015	2.2	2,795	1.1	1,373	1.6	2,028	94.4	117,757	0.6	785	N/A*	2,079
2016	2.4	2,881	1.2	1,433	1.7	2,096	94.1	114,437	0.7	808	N/A*	2,411
2017	2.6	3,104	1.2	1,432	1.8	2,185	93.7	112,954	0.7	851	N/A*	2,616

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce Police workforce by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of police officers from each of the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups increased

• the percentage of Asian police officers increased from 1.5% in 2007 to 2.6% in 2017, an increase of 1.1 percentage points (the largest out of all ethnic groups)

4. Police workforce by ethnicity and area

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2017

Percentage of police officers, compared with the overall population (at 2011 Census), by ethnicity and police force area

	Asian			Black			Mixed			White			Other			Unknown
Police force area	Asian % officers	Asian % Population	Asian No	Black % officers	Black % Population	Black No	Mixed % officers	Mixed % Population	Mixed No	White % officers	White % Population	White No	Other % officers	Other % Population	Other No	Unknown % officers	Unknown % Population	Unknown No
All - excluding BTP	2.6	6.8	3,104	1.2	3.3	1,432	1.8	2.2	2,185	93.7	86.0	112,954	0.7	1.7	851	N/A*	N/A*	2,616
Avon & Somerset	0.3	2.1	8	0.3	1.9	8	1.8	1.8	44	97.2	93.3	2,331	0.3	1.0	7	N/A*	N/A*	270
Bedfordshire	4.8	13.2	53	1.4	4.8	15	2.5	3.0	28	91.2	77.5	1,006	0.1	1.4	1	N/A*	N/A*	16
British Transport Police	4.2	N/A*	108	2.6	N/A*	68	2.7	N/A*	70	90.0	N/A*	2,330	0.5	N/A*	14	N/A*	N/A*	89
Cambridgeshire	1.1	4.9	14	0.2	1.3	3	1.3	2.0	17	97.2	90.3	1,292	0.2	1.6	3	N/A*	N/A*	17
Cheshire	0.4	1.2	8	0.2	0.3	4	0.8	1.0	15	98.6	96.9	1,912	0.0	0.5		N/A*	N/A*	69
Cleveland	1.3	3.1	16	0.1	0.6	1	0.3	1.0	4	98.2	94.5	1,238	0.1	0.8	1	N/A*	N/A*	22
Cumbria	0.4	0.6	4	0.2	0.1	2	0.4	0.5	4	99.0	98.5	1,095	0.1	0.3	1	N/A*	N/A*	6
Derbyshire	2.4	3.6	41	0.3	1.0	4	0.8	1.4	13	96.4	93.3	1,647	0.2	0.7	3	N/A*	N/A*	2
Devon & Cornwall	0.2	0.7	4	0.2	0.2	5	0.9	0.9	21	98.5	97.5	2,252	0.2	0.6	5	N/A*	N/A*	628
Dorset	0.2	1.4	3	0.2	0.4	2	0.9	1.3	12	98.6	96.0	1,209	0.1	0.8	1	N/A*	N/A*	39
Durham	0.6	0.8	7	0.1	0.2	1	1.0	0.7	11	98.2	97.8	1,122	0.1	0.5	1	N/A*	N/A*	2
Dyfed-Powys	0.2	0.8	2	0.1	0.2	1	0.5	0.6	5	99.1	98.0	1,013	0.1	0.4	1	N/A*	N/A*	138
Essex	0.3	2.3	8	0.2	2.0	5	1.5	1.6	42	97.9	93.2	2,751	0.2	0.9	5	N/A*	N/A*	8
Gloucestershire	0.6	1.8	6	0.4	0.9	4	1.0	1.5	11	97.6	95.4	1,036	0.4	0.5	4	N/A*	N/A*	28
Greater Manchester	2.9	9.2	182	0.6	2.8	36	1.9	2.3	120	94.0	83.8	5,941	0.6	2.0	39	N/A*	N/A*
Gwent	0.8	1.7	9	0.5	0.6	6	0.7	1.0	8	97.8	96.1	1,131	0.2	0.6	2	N/A*	N/A*	22
Hampshire	1.0	3.0	28	0.2	0.9	6	1.3	1.6	35	97.0	93.3	2,689	0.5	1.1	14	N/A*	N/A*	125
Hertfordshire	1.7	5.7	34	0.7	2.8	13	1.8	2.5	35	95.8	87.6	1,855	0.1	1.4	1	N/A*	N/A*	16
Humberside	0.4	1.3	6	0.4	0.5	6	0.6	0.9	10	98.6	96.5	1,589	0.0	0.8		N/A*	N/A*	30
Kent	1.2	3.1	39	0.2	1.3	5	1.5	1.6	47	97.0	93.1	3,127	0.2	0.9	8	N/A*	N/A*	33
Lancashire	2.2	7.4	60	0.1	0.4	3	1.7	1.1	46	95.8	90.4	2,598	0.2	0.7	5	N/A*	N/A*	138
Leicestershire	4.9	15.3	87	0.7	2.4	13	2.0	2.0	36	92.2	78.4	1,634	0.1	1.9	2	N/A*	N/A*	31
Lincolnshire	0.5	0.8	5	0.6	0.4	6	1.0	0.9	11	97.9	97.6	1,043	0.0	0.4		N/A*	N/A*	22
London, City of	2.2	N/A*	15	1.6	N/A*	11	1.8	N/A*	12	94.2	N/A*	643	0.3	N/A*	2	N/A*	N/A*	2
Merseyside	0.3	1.4	12	0.6	1.1	20	1.9	1.5	68	96.6	94.5	3,388	0.5	1.6	18	N/A*	N/A*	32
Metropolitan Police	5.2	17.0	1,636	3.2	13.3	998	3.0	5.0	956	86.6	59.8	27,181	2.0	5.0	623	N/A*	N/A*	122
Norfolk	0.2	1.1	3	0.5	0.5	7	0.9	1.2	13	98.2	96.5	1,478	0.2	0.6	3	N/A*	N/A*	11
North Wales	0.2	0.9	3	0.1	0.2	1	0.6	0.7	8	99.0	97.5	1,411	0.1	0.6	2	N/A*	N/A*	16
North Yorkshire	0.4	1.2	5	0.0	0.5		0.9	0.9	12	98.8	96.6	1,357	0.0	0.8		N/A*	N/A*	4
Northamptonshire	1.0	3.3	11	1.3	2.4	14	1.3	2.0	14	96.3	91.5	1,101	0.2	0.8	2	N/A*	N/A*	44
Northumbria	0.5	2.7	15	0.2	0.6	5	1.0	0.9	32	98.3	94.6	3,161	0.1	1.3	4	N/A*	N/A*	72
Nottinghamshire	2.1	4.4	39	0.9	2.5	16	1.4	2.8	25	95.4	88.8	1,747	0.2	1.4	3	N/A*	N/A*	7
South Wales	0.6	2.8	16	0.2	1.0	5	1.2	1.4	35	97.8	93.4	2,825	0.2	1.5	7	N/A*	N/A*	20
South Yorkshire	1.9	4.1	47	0.6	1.9	15	1.0	1.5	24	96.4	90.6	2,385	0.1	1.8	3	N/A*	N/A*	11
Staffordshire	0.8	3.2	14	0.5	0.8	8	0.7	1.3	12	98.0	94.1	1,586	0.0	0.7		N/A*	N/A*	6
Suffolk	0.1	1.5	1	0.3	0.9	3	2.2	1.7	24	97.3	95.2	1,057	0.1	0.6	1	N/A*	N/A*	15
Surrey	1.2	4.8	20	0.5	1.1	8	1.9	2.1	31	95.8	90.4	1,599	0.6	1.7	11	N/A*	N/A*	317
Sussex	0.2	2.5	6	0.2	0.9	4	1.0	1.9	25	98.1	93.7	2,444	0.5	1.0	13	N/A*	N/A*	95
Thames Valley	1.6	8.5	66	0.7	3.0	28	2.2	2.5	89	95.1	84.6	3,851	0.4	1.4	17	N/A*	N/A*	45
Warwickshire	3.9	4.2	32	0.1	0.8	1	0.7	1.5	6	94.8	92.7	776	0.4	0.9	4	N/A*	N/A*	17
West Mercia	1.0	1.8	20	0.3	0.4	6	1.0	1.1	20	97.5	96.2	1,984	0.3	0.5	6	N/A*	N/A*	20
West Midlands	5.6	18.0	371	1.5	6.0	100	2.0	3.5	134	90.7	70.1	6,044	0.2	2.3	14	N/A*	N/A*	93
West Yorkshire	3.1	12.6	146	0.6	2.1	30	1.3	2.2	63	94.6	81.8	4,458	0.3	1.4	15	N/A*	N/A*	8
Wiltshire	0.4	2.6	4	0.3	0.9	3	0.7	1.4	7	98.5	94.5	966	0.1	0.6	1	N/A*	N/A*	2

^* Not applicable Data not collected

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce Police workforce by ethnicity and area Summary

This data shows that:

• of the 43 police forces, the Metropolitan police in London had the highest percentage of police officers from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined – 13.4% in total

• the number of police officers from these ethnic groups in London reflects the city’s population as a whole – 40.2% of people in London come from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups, the largest percentage for any area of England and Wales

• in the West Midlands, 9.3% of police officers came from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined, while 29.9% of the overall population in the region came from the same groups

• in Bedfordshire, 8.8% of police officers came from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined, while 22.5% of the overall population in the region came from the same groups

• police forces in Dyfed-Powys, North Wales and Cumbria had the smallest percentage of officers from an Asian, Black, Mixed or Other background (at 0.9%, 1.0% and 1.0% respectively), which are broadly in line with figures for the overall population

5. Police workforce by ethnicity and rank over time

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2007 to 2017
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2017

Percentage and number of police officers by ethnicity and rank (2007 and 2017)

	Chief Officer				Chief Superintendent				Superintendent				Chief Inspector				Inspector				Sergeant				Constable
Ethnicity	Chief Officer % 2007	Chief Officer No 2007	Chief Officer % 2017	Chief Officer No 2017	Chief Superintendent % 2007	Chief Superintendent No 2007	Chief Superintendent % 2017	Chief Superintendent No 2017	Superintendent % 2007	Superintendent No 2007	Superintendent % 2017	Superintendent No 2017	Chief Inspector % 2007	Chief Inspector No 2007	Chief Inspector % 2017	Chief Inspector No 2017	Inspector % 2007	Inspector No 2007	Inspector % 2017	Inspector No 2017	Sergeant % 2007	Sergeant No 2007	Sergeant % 2017	Sergeant No 2017	Constable % 2007	Constable No 2007	Constable % 2017	Constable No 2017
Asian	2.0	4	1.0	2	1.3	6	2.5	8	1.0	10	1.7	15	1.0	18	1.3	21	1.0	72	1.7	94	1.1	235	1.8	330	1.6	1,766	2.8	2,635
Black	0.5	1	1.0	2	0.6	3	1.9	6	0.8	8	0.7	6	0.5	10	0.6	10	0.5	36	0.8	42	0.8	179	0.9	166	1.0	1,113	1.3	1,200
Mixed	1.0	2	0.0	0	0.6	3	1.3	4	0.5	5	1.6	14	1.2	22	1.1	18	0.7	49	1.1	61	0.7	162	1.4	251	1.1	1,176	2.0	1,837
White	96.6	196	98.0	193	97.2	456	94.0	299	97.4	954	95.8	839	97.2	1,778	96.9	1,538	97.5	6,790	95.9	5,221	97.0	21,026	95.5	17,618	95.7	103,172	93.2	87,246
Other	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.2	1	0.3	1	0.2	2	0.2	2	0.1	2	0.0	0	0.2	16	0.4	24	0.3	65	0.5	83	0.5	546	0.8	741
Unknown	N/A*	3	N/A*	12	N/A*	0	N/A*	5	N/A*	8	N/A*	16	N/A*	18	N/A*	21	N/A*	69	N/A*	80	N/A*	283	N/A*	301	N/A*	1,618	N/A*	2,181

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce Police workforce by ethnicity and rank over time Summary

Senior officers include those in the following ranks:

• Chief Officer
• Chief Superintendent
• Superintendent
• Chief Inspector

This data shows that:

• as at 31 March 2017, there was a lower percentage of officers from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined in senior ranks (3.7%) than in the constable rank (6.8%)

• between 2007 and 2013, the percentage of senior officers from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined increased from 2.8% to 3.9% but remained fairly stable between 2014 and 2017

• between 2007 and 2017, there was a steady increase in the percentage of constables from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined, from 4.3% to 6.8%

6. Police workforce by ethnicity and gender

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2007 to 2017
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2017

Number and percentage of police officers by ethnicity and gender (2007 and 2017)

	Female				Male
Ethnicity	Female Number 2007	Female % 2007	Female Number 2017	Female % 2017	Male Number 2007	Male % 2007	Male Number 2017	Male % 2017
Asian	402	1.2	635	1.8	1,709	1.6	2,470	2.9
Black	359	1.1	393	1.1	991	0.9	1,039	1.2
Mixed	393	1.2	625	1.8	1,026	1.0	1,560	1.8
White	31,463	96.1	33,333	94.7	102,909	96.1	79,621	93.3
Other	130	0.4	211	0.6	502	0.5	641	0.8
Unknown	371	N/A*	648	N/A*	1,628	N/A*	1,969	N/A*

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce Police workforce by ethnicity and gender Summary

This data shows that:

• as at March 2017, there was a higher percentage of male police officers from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined (6.7%) than female police officers from the same ethnic groups (5.3%)

• between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of male police officers from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined increased slightly faster than the percentage of female police officers from the same ethnic groups

7. Police workforce by ethnicity and type of police work

• Location: England and Wales
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2017

Percentage and number of police officers by ethnicity and type of police work

	Community support officer		Designated Officer		Police Officer		Police Staff		Special Constable		Traffic Warden
Ethnicity	Community support officer %	Community support officer Number of officers	Designated Officer %	Designated Officer Number of officers	Police Officer %	Police Officer Number of officers	Police Staff %	Police Staff Number of officers	Special Constable %	Special Constable Number of officers	Traffic Warden %	Traffic Warden Number of officers
Asian	4.0	400	2.6	106	2.6	3,104	3.1	1,825	6.2	784	0.0
Black	2.9	284	2.8	114	1.2	1,432	2.2	1,266	1.8	230	0.0
Mixed	1.5	146	1.4	57	1.8	2,185	1.0	570	2.1	261	0.0
White	90.4	8,974	92.3	3,708	93.7	112,954	93.1	53,991	88.5	11,112	100.0	11
Other	1.2	118	0.8	32	0.7	851	0.6	368	1.3	169	0.0
Unknown	N/A*	290	N/A*	237	N/A*	2,616	N/A*	3,043	N/A*	947	N/A*

^* Not applicable Data not collected

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Police workforce Police workforce by ethnicity and type of police work Summary

This data shows that:

• as at March 2017, there were fewer people from an Asian, Black, Mixed or Other background working as police officers than in other roles within the police workforce

• overall, 11.5% of Special Constables came from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups, compared with 6.9% of police staff and 9.6% of police community support officers

8. Methodology

Data is collected from each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, and the British Transport Police.

Police staff report their own ethnicity from a list of 5 options.

Police forces keep records of all their staff on human resources and payroll systems. Data is quality assured by the Home Office and confirmed by police forces before publication.

Rounding

Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal point.

Quality and methodology information

9. Data sources

Source

Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2017

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Home Office

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

Ethnicity and gender data is used by police forces as part of diversity monitoring schemes.

10. Download the data

Police Workforce - Aggregate Officer/staff rank - Spreadsheet (csv) 10 MB

Due to the size of the data, this download has been split into two files: This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, Aggregate Officer/Staff rank, police force area, FTE, headcount, rate, proportion

Police Workforce - Detailed Officer/Staff rank - Spreadsheet (csv) 31 MB

Due to the size of the data, this download has been split into two files: This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, Detailed Officer/Staff rank, police force area, FTE, headcount, rate, proportion

Publication release date: 19 April 2018

full page history

1. 19 April 2018 Updated with the latest data

From: Home Office

Previous edition:

1. 28 February 2018

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