Crime has fallen a lot further than police numbers. We are seeing a decrease of 10% to 20% a year, even through the recession.
Police numbers are to be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445013/hosb0215.pdf (Figure 2)
and Crime statistics - from two separate sources - here:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime...5/stb-crime-march-2015.html#tab-Summary- Of the two methods, police statistics and the Crime survey in England and Wales, the former is much lower, as the survey covers crimes which are not reported to the police and antisocial behaviour. Both methods, however, match each other quite well, so it is reasonable to conclude that crime really IS falling, contrary to what is generally supposed.
Given that the police now have far better technology for detecting and preventing crime as well as catching the offenders, it is not unreasonable to suppose they are now heavily overmanned.
The reason for falling crime - it is not just a UK phenomenon, it is falling in almost all western countries with widely different policing methods and resources - is debatable, but there is very good correlation between crime and with the level of lead in petrol 20 years earlier. It may be that much crime is simply the result of lead poisoning in childhood! It appears, however, to have little to do with the quality or otherwise of policing.