Boris Johnson nearly halfway to reaching goal of 20,000 more police officers on Britain’s streets

BORIS Johnson is nearly halfway to reaching his goal of putting 20,000 more police on the streets – as he announced 8,771 more cops have been hired.

As he tries to get on the front foot ahead of next week’s local elections, he thanked hard-working police and vowed the new recruits would make Britain’s streets safer to “crack down” on crime.

PA

The PM has announced 8,771 more cops have been hired[/caption]

Every force across England and Wales has met or exceed their recruitment targets, they confirmed last night.

Ministers have vowed to recruit at least 6,000 a year to meet their target within three years.

139,000 people have applied to join the police since the start of the fresh recruitment drive under the PM.

Ministers said there were now more than 10,000 ethnic minority cops in Britain’s forces – the highest number on record.

And there are more women serving than ever before too.

The PM said last night: “When I became Prime Minister, I made a commitment that we would recruit more police officers, cut crime and make your streets safer.

“In just one year, we have hired an extra 9,000 extra police officers, smashing our first-year target and putting us well on track to recruit the 20,000 new officers we promised.”

Priti Patel hailed the news too, saying she was “delighted” bosses had been able to bring many more coppers on the streets.

She added: “As Home Secretary, keeping you, your family and our country safe is my number one priority.”

But critics said the police numbers were still down below what they were when the Tories came to power back in 2010.