Suella Braverman clashed with a Sky News presenter on Monday (28 August) over the Conservatives' figures for police recruitment.
The Home Secretary spoke after police were ordered to investigate every theft and follow every "reasonable" lead in solving crimes.
Jayne Secker challenged the Home Secretary over her claim that 20,000 additional police officers had been recruited.
"You've lost 20,000, you've gained 23,000, so you've gained 3000," the host said.
"That's wrong," Ms Braverman replied.
In July, figures showed that a record number of police officers are quitting - almost 9,200 officers left the police service in the year to March.