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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. JOHN
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 29th APRIL 2008
Question
"Would the Minister advise the Assembly of the total amount of staff employed by the States of Jersey Police on an annual basis from 1996 inclusive to date, providing a breakdown of police officers by rank and showing separate numbers for civilian staff?"
Answer
It is not possible to provide the actual amount of staff employed by the States of Jersey Police as the number of persons actually employed can vary on a weekly basis as people enter and leave the organisation. It is however possible to give some details of the authorised strength which is usually close to the number actually employed. During recent years the HR computer system used to record these details has been changed and some old records deleted. However some earlier details are available from manual sources.
The 1996 Clothier Report indicates that in 1996 the States of Jersey Police had an authorised strength of 247 police officers, 17 port control officers and 69 civilian workers.
The Police Annual Report for the same year gives the following breakdown of rank:
1 Chief Officer
1 Assistant Chief Officer 3 Superintendents
14 Inspectors
36 Sergeants
and 187 Constables (giving a total of 242)
It is believed that this reflects actual rather than authorised strength at the time the report was written and that the force was carrying vacancies at that time.
The totals for years in respect of which more accurate records are available are as follows:
Year | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
Police Officers | 238 | 240 | 241 | 241 | 243 | 243 | 243 | 245 | 245 |
Civilian Staff | 91 | 89 | 88 | 91 | 99 | 98 | 97 | 90 | 87.5 |
It should be noted that the authorised strength for constables refers to officers who have completed the initial phase of their training and who have been authorised to undertake operational duties. Recruits in training may be additional to that total.
The current actual strength and rank structure is as follows. It should be noted that these figures exclude officers who have given notice of their intention to leave the force:
1 Chief Officer
1 Deputy Chief Officer 1 Superintendent
3 Chief Inspectors
15 Inspectors
41 Sergeants
164 Operational Constables and 17 recruits in training
This gives an overall total of 226 operational officers, 19 below the authorised strength, although this should reduce to 2 below the authorised strength when the new recruits become operational in a few weeks time. It is planned to engage a further intake of recruits in January 2009 for deployment in May 2009.
Taken overall there has been no significant change in police strength during this period, although since 1996 there has been some reduction in senior ranks in favour of more junior posts and an increase in civilian staff, largely to address additional requirements in IT, COMMS, and the Criminal Justice System.