Police Activity Survey

Product Description

Estimating how police use their time helps the public, the policing sector and the Home Office to understand demand, priorities, and productivity. The last time there was a national survey of police time was in 2005 to 2006. To produce updated estimates which reflect the changes in police demands and operational choices, the Home Office conducted a new Police Activity Survey over a 7-day period in February 2023. Operational officers and staff recorded how they spent their shifts across various policing activities. Thirty five of the 43 police forces in England and Wales chose to participate - a force participation rate of 81%. Over the course of the survey period 160,000 responses were collected with over 6.1 million hours of activities recorded.

This publication presents the results of the Police Activity Survey (PAS) and an analysis of police time based on the results; it focuses on 4 key areas:

• The allocation of how police spend their time across specific crime incident activities, specific public safety and welfare (PSW) incident activities, and general crime/PSW activities not related to a specific crime or PSW incident.
• The impact of ‘complexities’ such as drugs, alcohol, and mental health on how much time is spent on incidents.
• The estimated cost of responding to an incident.
• Breakdowns specific to neighbourhood police departments.

This is the first time the Home Office has published analysis of this type; it is a significant addition to the evidence base and has the potential to be widely used to support productivity improvements in policing.