Dudley is bottom of the Black Country league for police numbers with just one officer for around every 1,000 residents.
Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Local Democracy Reporting Service shows there were 326 officers assigned to the Dudley policing area in 2025.
Out of the West Midlands Police force areas only Solihull has fewer officers with 255 while Birmingham is the highest at 1,902.
Sandwell has 423 officers, Walsall is covered by 366 police officers while Wolverhampton is assigned 392.
Superintendent Gill Davenport, from Dudley Local Policing Area (LPA), said: “We have a wide range of teams who work tirelessly to ensure the borough is a safe place to live, work and visit.
“We currently have more than 375 police officers and staff who are based in various roles across Dudley; while we can also call on the support of a number of forcewide departments, such as the traffic and dogs units.
“As part of our local policing approach we carry out both targeted operations, and routine patrols, across all parts of the borough to address issues which matter to our communities.”
Government figures show in September 2024 there were 7,995 full-time equivalent officers in West Midlands Police which is not enough according to the police trade union, The West Midlands Police Federation.
In January 2025, The federation’s secretary, Tim Rogers, said: “The Police Uplift Programme which was launched by the previous Conservative Government saw 20,000 police officers recruited nationwide in the three years up until the end of March 2023.
“Of course, forces welcomed the influx of new recruits to boost officer numbers which had fallen so low that many forces were struggling to provide effective policing services for the communities they serve.
“But, sadly, that recruitment drive only just took us back to the officer numbers nationwide that we had in 2010.
“Not only were police forces dealing with ‘traditional’ crimes, burglaries, theft, assaults, but they were also learning to adapt to new, emerging and growing crimes, such as human trafficking and cyber-crime with reduced resources but they were also picking up the pieces for other services and organisations that were struggling to cope due to their own budget cuts.”
Superintendent Davenport added: “There was a near six per cent decrease in total crime in the 12 months up to March 2025, compared to the previous 12 months, with significant reductions in serious youth violence, burglary and robbery.
“We’re committed to keeping you safe and tackling crime or community concerns.”
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