New statistics released to the JEP show the current number of police officers has fallen to 190 – down from 245 ten years ago.
The decline in numbers has been slow and steady with an average of ten officers leaving the force every year for the past four years.
The current police staff levels mean there is now one officer for every 555 people in Jersey, while in 2008, that ratio was one to every 389 residents.
In the UK last year, there was one officer for every 462 people.
In the States Assembly this week, Home Affairs Minister Len Norman said that the police were now working ‘smarter’ and using more technology, but other politicians have expressed concerns that the Island no longer has enough officers to work effectively.
Deputy Louise Doublet said having fewer than 200 officers could have a ‘significant impact on the abilities of police’.
With 190 officers, the force has dropped below the minimum required capacity level cited by a past chief officer.
‘States of Jersey Police must be able to provide, often at short notice, about 20 different specialist roles that range from firearms to family liaison,’ former chief officer Mike Bowron wrote in the force’s 2011 annual report. ‘Some roles require one or two trained experts, others need more than two dozen. The total required capacity equates to about 200 people.’
Concerns have also been raised that there are not enough officers on shift at any given time, although the JEP was unable to ascertain this number, as the information is withheld for tactical reasons.
However, a police spokeswoman said that any of the 190 officers could respond to calls as needed. ‘Those officers and detectives that are not uniformed can be called upon should it be required,’ she said.
The 2008 States of Jersey Police annual report said: ‘Policing is by its very nature a human resource-intensive service and, unlike most public sector services, we operate a full service around the clock for 365 days a year. Keeping just one officer permanently on the beat would actually require six police posts to cover a rotating shift, leave and other abstractions.’
Speaking in the States Assembly last week, the Home Affairs Minister highlighted that statistics show crime on the Island is declining.
But the police force is also being called to a wider variety of issues.
In 2017, over three-quarters of incidents to which police responded were not crime-related, with the force receiving a large increase in the number of calls relating to mental-health issues and welfare checks.
A police spokeswoman said output has not been affected by the plummeting staff levels.
‘We are working differently now as part of the new operation model, so the reduction in numbers doesn’t affect the overall output,’ she said.
Police numbers
2014 – 232
2015 – 222
2016 – 214
2017 – 218
2018 – 190
