Thread by @Rank_Success

🧵on police officer leavers since 2006/7...

The Home Office publish data on how many officers leave policing & for what reason. Few know about it, fewer still use the data (Fed & forces alike). But it's fascinating.

Here's the overall rate per year ending 31/3...

1/12

Here's the total number of leavers.

2021/22 was a record high year, following on from a record low during 2020/21. Though the leaver rate was the same or higher between 2016/17 - 2019/20, as overall officer numbers were lower.

2006/7 also seems unusually high...

2/12

As for leaving reasons, the majority continues to be through retirements. Voluntary resignations upticked in 2021/22, with a resignation trend gradually increasing since 2014. Resignations generally account for just 1/3 of all leavers.

Transfers tend to be around 1k/yr...

3/12

I've shown the smaller volumes of leaving reasons on a separate graph, given the smaller numbers.

Dismissals increased to a peak in 2016/17, but have reduced to <200/yr since. Thankfully, the deaths in service did not see any increase in the pandemic years 20/21 & 21/22...

4/12

I took some samples of FTE leavers for particular forces.

Here's how the situation looks for leavers within the Met Police for each year.

Voluntary resignations began increasing in 2012/13 & now at 2006/07 levels...

5/12

Same again, but for Avon & Somerset (note the changing axis scales on these tailored to each force).

There's an apparent spike in resignations last year, now exceeding retirements. This situation was last seen in 2006/7. Overall however just slightly more than 19/20...

6/12

Here's Devon & Cornwall Police leavers. The majority continue to be retirements. Also relatively fewer transfer out. Does this indicate a more content workforce? ...

7/12

Moving up to GMP, last year's leavers saw a resurgence to 2017/18 levels after a few stable years. Retirements are again the main reason for this force, though there's also quite a few transfers out...

8/12

Merseyside Police saw a slight bump in police officer leavers for 2021/22, after a few years of reductions. However, it's fairly average compared to the longer term, albeit with an extra 40-50 officers choosing to vote with their feet compared to the prior 4 years...

9/12

Here's the situation for officer leavers across all forces in Wales. Last year's resignations increased to levels last seen in 2006/7 - 2008/9.

However, retirements continue to make up the majority. I outline in my PCDA: The Zeitgeist blog how this might change...

10/12

Crossing over the border to West Mids, there's a gradual overall increase in officer leavers of recent years, but by no means unprecedented.

The increase in resignations last year however might be something for the force to keep an eye on. Could it be PCDA-related? ...

11/12

Finally, back down again & this time to Thames Valley.

Officer leavers have increase after the 2020/21 lull, with voluntary resignations now the biggest factor. Lots of transfers out, too.

12/12

That's it for this 🧵 on police officers leaving the service. Thoughts?