ABSTRACT
The organization of the police service in England and Wales has changed markedly over the last decade. Ten years ago there were 125 police forces. Their average size was about 600 officers, but a great many were very much smaller. Some of these forces had an authorized establishment of less than 150 officers and most had little scope for specialization. Today the police account for over £500 million of public expenditure but, as a result of amalgamation, there are only forty-three forces. Their average strength is over 2000 officers and each force employs a large civilian staff and highly trained specialists. In all forces there has been considerable Investment in communications, transport and training, and the shape of operations has altered significantly with the introduction of regional crime squads, unit beat policing; computers and sophisticated scientific equipment.
