Research and analysis

Police Activity Survey (second edition)

Analysis from the Police Activity Survey, including how police spend their time across different activities, as well as new police response costs.

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

Details

This report has been republished as a second edition due to minor revisions to figures throughout the report following further input data cleaning carried out as part of Police Activity Survey 2026 development.

The Police Activity Survey (PAS) was a survey carried out by 35 of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales in February 2023. This publication presents the results of the PAS and an analysis of police time based on the results; it focuses on 4 key areas:

  • the allocation of how police spend their time across specific crime incident activities, specific public safety and welfare (PSW) incident activities, and general crime/PSW activities not related to a specific crime or PSW incident
  • the impact of ‘complexities’ such as drugs, alcohol, and mental health on how much time is spent on incidents
  • the estimated cost of responding to an incident
  • breakdowns specific to neighbourhood police departments

Updates to this page

Published 24 November 2025
Last updated 15 April 2026 show all updates
  1. Republished as second edition due to minor revisions to figures throughout the report following further input data cleaning carried out as part of Police Activity Survey 2026 development.

  2. Section 4 updated and section 4.4 removed to correct an inaccuracy in the report.

  3. First published.

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