WITH stark warnings of community policing and ‘bobbies on the beat’ being cut to the bone, new figures show that Dyfed-Powys bucked the trend and has seen the biggest rise in the number of total officers and PCSOs in the last five years.

There are 29 more officers in the force area now than there were five years ago – a 2.6 per cent rise.

The biggest rise in total officers since 2012, Dyfed-Powys is one of only three forces in the UK where overall officer numbers have increased after UK police chiefs warnings that community officers were under “serious threat from financial cuts”.

The number of neighbourhood officers and police community support officers in Dyfed-Powys has also risen since 2012, with 31 more local officers patrolling the streets in 2017 than five years ago.

The number of PCSOs in Dyfed-Powys has risen by 45 per cent to 143 in that time – one of only four forces where numbers rose.

Almost 11,000 police officer jobs were axed in England and Wales, figures show, with some 1,500 being neighbourhood policing posts.

The overall number of PCSOs in England and Wales dropped from 14,393 to 10,205.

But Dyfed-Powys has managed to buck the trend and now has 1,160 officers, which includes 143 PCSOs and 66 neighbourhood officers.

Dyfed-Powys police and crime commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn last week announced a five per cent rise in the police portion of council tax to “protect the number of police officers” in the force.

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