UK car thefts double as road policing hits a 10-year low

There are now over 20 per cent fewer road police officers patrolling the streets than a decade ago, according analysis of the latest Home Office data by the RAC. But has this truly made our streets lawless and are the figures telling the whole story?

In 2015 there were 5,237 police officers across 43 forces in England and Wales whose primary role was designated as traffic policing – that includes ‘cop in car’ patrols or speed camera enforcement. Compare this to 2025, when the number has since dropped to just 4,149, and it appears as if there has been a huge drop, despite the number of cars registered in Great Britain having risen by around one fifth since then.

Reflecting on the data, the RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, described the situation as “at a 10-year low, which can only be seen as bad for the enforcement of motoring laws”. 

So why do the numbers look so stark – especially given that figures from HM Treasury show funding for policing has risen every year since 2015 in both nominal and real terms?

Well, the Home Office was keen to point out to Auto Express that “primary role” is just that, meaning other officers do also take part in road policing. A spokesperson added: “The Chancellor has announced a real-term increase in police spending power over the next three years. As usual, more detail on force funding allocations will be set out at the provisional police settlement later this year.”

However, Auto Express has also previously spoken to several police officers who are, off the record, quick to point out that much of their shift is nowadays spent filing reports. As a result, the number of road officers on patrol at any one time is likely to be far lower than the 4,000-odd currently employed, once you take into account shift patterns and time writing up paperwork.

Whichever way you look at it, fewer police officers on the streets has coincided with crime going up. In the 12 months up to March 2025, 125,389 vehicles were reported stolen, compared with just 70,216 a decade earlier. Furthermore, just 3,277 people were convicted of dangerous driving in 2015, while 5,303 were caught 10 years later.

Auto Express also asked the Government whether it believed car crime had been in effect decriminalised, if it pledges to hire administrative staff to enable officers to spend more time on the beat, but it refused to respond beyond the statement above.

In the meantime, Williams said: “We’d very much like to see a return to having more officers on traffic duty, or significant new measures introduced to crack down on those who break the rules of the road. 

“With the Government on the verge of publishing the nation’s first road safety strategy for over a decade,” he continued, “we hope there are plenty of positive measures planned to cut casualties and keep everyone safe on the roads.”

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