More about this area

The force says...

Wiltshire Police provides a service to a population of approximately 716,000, in a largely rural County, covering 3,485 sq/km. The County has two unitary authorities, Wiltshire and Swindon and has a large military presence. The County is also home to Stonehenge and the M4 corridor.

Wiltshire Police consists of 974 police officers, 915 police staff and 141 PCSOs and is capably supported by special constables and volunteers. Within the last year, approximately 512,103 calls for service were received and 43,075 crimes recorded. In the South West region, Wiltshire Police is one of two forces to see a reduction in crimes reported for 2018.

Although the PCC’s budget is £118m for 2019-20, there has been a real terms reduction in funding of 34.5% over the past 9 years. In the HMICFRS publication – ‘Value for Money’, Wiltshire Police is shown as providing a service at a lower cost compared to similar forces.

In 2018 a new Chief Constable was appointed with a supporting leadership team. The Force also dealt with two global major incidents involving the criminal use of the chemical nerve agent – Novichok. These incidents required the Force to call upon significant mutual aid over a sustained period, to ensure the public were kept safe and a continued quality of service was provided in relation to normal policing business.

Disclaimer: the above statement has been prepared by Wiltshire Police. The views and information in it are not necessarily those of HMICFRS.