It was great to hear yesterday that Surrey Police has already reached its target of recruiting an additional 78 police officers in 2020/21. This brings the total number of officers in Surrey Police to 2,072.
This welcome news comes soon after the Home Office announced, just before Christmas, a £12.8m funding boost for Surrey Police next year. This includes funding to recruit another 76 additional officers in 2021/22.
More officers and higher funding are having a real impact locally. When I caught up recently with Inspector Bert Dean, the Elmbridge Borough Commander at Surrey Police, he told me that 6 more officers have joined his team, and burglaries are down by 50%.
Our local police do a great job and have been working particularly hard during the pandemic. More officers and higher funding will help them to keep crime in Elmbridge low.
