THE number of special constables at Surrey Police has dropped by over 60 per cent in just five years.

This is the third largest drop nationwide, compared to a drop of around two thirds at West Midlands Police and a similar figure at Merseyside.

But, interestingly Surrey Police has seen a slight increase in the percentage of its regular officers in the same period between 2012 and 2017, unlike West Midlands Police and Merseyside.

A Surrey Police spokesperson said: “In 2013/2014 Surrey’s Special Constabulary underwent a significant transformation to prepare for the introduction of Surrey Police’s new Policing in Your Neighbourhood model.

“This transformation involved some special constables leaving the service for a variety of different reasons but in many cases due to changes in personal circumstances. Following this, the force’s focus was on the recruitment of police constables to support its new model and Surrey Police is proud to be one of the only forces in the UK to have maintained its police constable establishment despite austerity measures.”

In the 43 police forces across England and Wales, there were over 6,500 fewer special officers compared to in 2012.

Although special constables have full police powers, uniforms and equipment, they are members of the public who volunteer to help police local communities and are sworn in the presence of a magistrate, similarly to regular police officers.

The Surrey Police spokesperson added: “Over the last three years, the size of the Special Constabulary has remained constant at around 120 (118 in 2017, 121 in 2016 and 124 in 2015), but this year will be one of growth as the force invests in recruiting and training new special constables with skills and experiences that they are unlikely to encounter elsewhere.

“Deployment into different specialist areas helps to motivate and retain special constables who in turn contribute to the force’s vision to make Surrey the safest county it can be.”

Find out more about Surrey’s Special Constabulary at tinyurl.com/ydy2gtbb.