April 26, 2023 4.00 pm This story is over 26 months old

166 new police officers in Lincolnshire since 2021, figures reveal

The PCC welcomes government plans for more officers
A police officer in Lincoln city centre. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police
By Local Democracy Reporter

Lincolnshire Police has 166 new officers since 2021, as part of the government’s drive to recruit 20,000 more across the country.

The recruitment has been hailed by Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones, who says it will make a “significant difference” to the way local policing can be delivered.

The 166 recruits since 2021 has been bolstered with 23 being funded by council tax.

Nationally, an additional 20,951 police officers have been recruited since the start of the Uplift programme in 2021 – bringing numbers back to similar levels to 2010.

Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones at the launch of the force’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Marc Jones said: “The Conservative government’s drive to put more police officers on the streets has made a significant difference to the policing service of residents in Lincolnshire and they deserve huge credit for reaching, and even surpassing, the 20,000 national target.

“Additional funding provided by the Government, along with support from Lincolnshire taxpayers, has allowed me to strengthen our front line policing substantially, and led to the creation of new roads policing and rural crime units, reinforce public protection teams and bolster our 101/999 operating functions.

“This has meant critical improvements to our policing and helped me to work with the Chief Constable to keep our communities safe.

“But that does not mean that there are no challenges ahead. There are still very real problems with the way Lincolnshire is funded and I’m working hard with colleagues in Whitehall to address this fundamental issue.”

New laws aiming to keep communities safer – in the form of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act – have also been welcomed by the Lincolnshire PCC.

The Act would see life orders introduced for child killers, life sentences for drivers who kill while intoxicated, and the end of automatic early release for dangerous violent and sexual offenders.

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