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 Council and Swindon Borough Council. The county has a proud military history and, with Salisbury Plain acting as a training range for the British Army, hosts a sizeable military presence at barracks across the county.
Wiltshire has a rich cultural heritage – it is home to the Stonehenge and Avebury UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as Salisbury Cathedral which attract tourists from across the globe. The annual Summer Solstice at Stonehenge and the World of Music and Dance Festival in the north of the county attract tens of thousands of visitors every year.
Effective March 2022, Wiltshire Police had 1,130 officers excluding career break and secondment or 1,152 including career break and secondment. We had 1,053 staff members and 115 PCSOs.
Wiltshire is generally an affluent area with pockets of deprivation in larger settlements, e.g. in Swindon where 19 of the 132 neighbourhoods are amongst the 20 per cent most income-deprived in England. The M4 corridor runs through the county and plays a vital role in supporting the local economy, although presents a challenge in terms of policing demand arising from county lines activity. Alongside this, rural crime and other cross-border criminality presents challenges to the force.
In the period April 21 – March 22, the force received approximately 377,700 calls for service and recorded 41,537 crimes.
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 nine years. In the HMICFRS publication ‘Value for Money’, Wiltshire Police is shown as providing a service at a lower cost compared to similar forces.
Wiltshire Police prides itself on being a progressive and inclusive force – as well as pioneering work in the field of values development, in 2021 the force was placed in the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers list in recognition of its dedication to workplace diversity and is also signed up to the Disability Confident scheme, achieving ‘Leader’ status.
Disclaimer: the above statement has been prepared by Wiltshire Police. The views and information in it are not necessarily those of HMICFRS.