More about this area

The Constabulary polices 1,855 square miles stretching across urban communities, the multi-cultural vibrancy of Bristol and World Heritage cities to coastal villages, market towns and the hills of Exmoor. The local population has risen by more than 9% over the last decade and is swelled by large student and tourist populations.

Intersected by the M4 and M5, Avon and Somerset incorporates major rail routes to London, the Midlands, Wales and the South West, and is home to Bristol International Airport and Bristol Port.

The force is the host for several regional collaborations, including SW Regional Organised Crime Unit and Counter Terrorism Policing South West.

Avon and Somerset’s vision, as set out in its strategy, is “outstanding policing for everyone”. The mission is to serve, protect and respect and it is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. In June 2023, the service acknowledged institutional racism, an integral step in becoming an anti-racist organisation.

More than 1,500 police officers have been recruited in the last four years. In 2024 Avon and Somerset had 187 police officers per 100,000 people (national average is 245/100,000). On 31 March 2024 the total full-time equivalent was 3,294 police officers, 2,733 police staff and 282 PCSOs.

The constabulary’s revenue budget for 2024/25 is £386.3m.

Demand for service is up, with 1,174,634 contacts received via 999/101 and online in 2023. There was a spike in demand linked to this summer’s civil unrest and there has been a surge in complex crimes. At the same time, they have also seen increases in the amount of crime that’s allocated for further follow-up and management.

Improvements to how the constabulary investigates rape and serious sexual offences has been delivered through Operation Bluestone, which has seen charge rates for rape rise from 2.5% to ~10% despite a rising volume of reports.

The constabulary polices 1,855 square miles stretching across urban communities, the multi-cultural vibrancy of Bristol and World Heritage cities to holiday resorts, coastal villages, market towns and the hills of Exmoor.

Intersected by the M4 and M5, Avon and Somerset incorporates major rail routes to London, the midlands, Wales and South West, and is home to Bristol International Airport and Bristol Port, Britain’s most centrally-located deep sea port. It also plays host to large-scale events such as Glastonbury Festival and the Badminton Horse Trials.

The constabulary’s mission is to serve, protect and respect and they are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. To be most effective, they are working hard to recruit more people from under-represented communities and make their workforce more representative of the public they serve.

Serving a diverse population of 1.65 million, swelled by large student and tourist populations, brings policing challenges, with pockets of substantial wealth contrasting deprived localities and communities.

Demand grows ever more complex and challenging with the force experiencing a 30 per cent increase in 999 calls experienced during 2022. In the 12 months to January 2023 the constabulary has seen a 6.2% increase in recorded crime overall – the equivalent of 8,144 more crimes.

Although neighbourhood crime has increased throughout 2022 (+5.7%) it continues to remain notably below pre-COVID levels, with robbery (+7.8%), burglary (-2.0%), vehicle offences (+9.9%) and theft (+1.1%) all showing stable or small increases.

The force is leading the way in how policing investigates rape and serious sexual offences.  Through our ground breaking Operation Bluestone, we are delivering improvements in performance.  The charge rate for rape continues to show strong improvement, doubling from 3.1% to 6.2% over the past 12 months, and an even stronger upward trajectory recorded over the last 6 months, with rates increasing to over 10%

A diverse mix of drug crime, organised crime groups and cross-border criminality alongside rural crime present additional policing challenges, with an increase of 259% disruptions completed in the last year.

On 31 August 2022 the total FTE number of police officers and staff stood at 6,411, including 350 PCSOs. The constabulary’s revenue budget for 2022/23 is £348.3m.