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Recruitment: Record number of student officers start in July

Category: Returnships (Returning to work)

Achievements

West Midlands Police have welcomed their largest ever number of new students officers this month.

In total 234 new officers reported for their first day of training during July - that is 50 more than the overall number of recruits during the year of 2016/17.

The new officers have joined through a mixture of our regular student officer programmes, known as the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship and the Degree Holder Entry Programme, as well as the national Police Now scheme. 

Today (30 July) sees this month’s final group of recruits begin their training, with 46 students set to complete fitness tests, meet the Police Federation and their new trainers and tutors over the course of the day.

Yesterday, 96 of the officers who have already joined this month were formally sworn in at a ceremony here at WMP, with the group separated into smaller groups to allow for social distancing in the current climate. 

new recruits being sworn in

Newest group of students were formally sworn in at a ceremony here at WMP

July has seen fewer officers leave WMP than predicted which means that our overall officer numbers have grown by 171 since the end of June.

Application numbers also increased in June, with the number of people aiming to become an officer almost doubling from the previous month, with 1019 people completing their form. That is the highest number of applications received in a single month in 2020.

The latest figures follow on from the release of national statistics for June by the Home Office today, as they reflect on the progress of the Uplift programme, which aims to recruit 20,000 new officers nationally over the next three years.

Nicola Price, Director of People and Organisation Development, said: “We have been working incredibly hard to ensure we see our numbers grow as part of our great allocation from the national Uplift Programme.

“We have seen a great deal of interest in our career opportunities and to see application and cohort sizes grow in recent weeks is really encouraging as we move through the three-year programme to bring in almost 3,000 recruits.

“Policing offers such a wonderful career where you can really make a difference. The challenge for us is to raise awareness and understanding of what the job involves and the opportunities it can bring so that more and more people decide that policing really is something they are made for.

“We are working hard to put ourselves in the shop window for all those people considering their career futures and to even spark something in those who are not necessarily searching for a career but like the idea that they could really make a difference to local people."

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: “It’s great to have so many new officers joining the force and starting their career in the police from right across our diverse communities. 

“We’ve had thousands of high quality applications from those wanting to become a part of the police family.

“It’s a busy time to join, but no less exciting. With challenging issues like the recovery from COVID-19 to the very exciting few years ahead as we have the City of Culture in Coventry and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham coming up.

“In July alone we’ve seen a further 200 new officers have joined West Midlands Police. I look forward to seeing many of them out on the streets soon, keeping our communities safe."

Since the student officer programme opened for recruitment, in April 2019, 9,000 people have applied to join West Midlands Police. 

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