Arrests aren't the measure of a police officer, says chair
17 September 2026
Reports claiming 40 per cent of police officers made no arrests last year shows a ‘complete lack of understanding’ of modern policing, says the chair of West Mercia Police Federation.
Gareth Spreadbury said judging officers by the number of people they arrest ignored the huge range of work they carry out every day to protect the public, much of which does not result in someone being taken into custody.
He said: “It shows a complete lack of understanding of how the police operate.
“Policing is not only about arrests and being reactive.
“There are officers on the frontline and in office roles that do other things than arrests such as proactive intelligence work, safeguarding, undercover work, voluntary interviewing, building case files to ensure cases go to court in a timely manner, victim support services, drug identification experts, officers who work in NPAS, specialised search trained officers, negotiators, and all sorts of other things.
West Mercia Police Federation chair Gareth Spreadbury
Gareth said that officers are routinely called upon to deal with incidents where the priority is protecting and supporting people rather than making an arrest.
“The primary role of police is to preserve life and that involves a lot more than just arresting people and a lot more people with a lot of different specialised skills,” he said.
“We go to mental health incidents, people in distress, medical emergencies, road traffic collisions, missing persons, the list goes on and is not exhaustive.
Complexities of policing
“When there is no one else there is always the police and always will be. Basing our members’ amazing work on just arresting people is a completely disappointing view and understanding of the realities and complexities of policing.
The Sun’s report, based on Freedom of Information responses from 16 police forces, claimed 40 per cent of did not make an arrest in 2025/26.
The most recent Home Office figures show there were 754,046 arrests in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025, an increase of five per cent on the previous year.
Gareth said that an arrest was just one of a number of ways to deal with offences, with officers using alternatives where appropriate.
Law and policies
And he said officers have to adhere to the law, policies and their training.
“Arresting is an important part of the job,” he said. “But a person should not be judged on bringing people to custody.
“But policing doesn’t happen in isolation. There’s legislation, Government policy and operational policies that feed into an officer’s decision making.
“Those officers are under greater scrutiny and more accountable than ever for their actions.
Morale
Gareth said media reports that reduced policing to arrest figures could also damage morale among officers, who face greater demand than ever.
“I'd like to see more focus on the celebration of policing, what we do right and what we do for the public,” he said.
“At the most critical moment we will be there to support people when they're in need.
“That's the focus that needs to be on policing, what we do every day, rather than speculate on what we don't do.”
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