Patel’s ‘delight’ as 78,000 apply for police jobs

Massive recruitment drive ‘on track’

MORE THAN 70,000 people applied to become police officers in the first six months of the Government’s recruitment drive.

An estimated 78,000 applications were submitted between October and May for roles in forces across England and Wales as part of efforts to sign up 20,000 more officers over the next three years, according to Home Office estimates.

The majority, over 70,000, were submitted by April – within the first six months of the campaign – according to the department’s provisional data provided by the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

The news comes as some forces saw a spike in applications at the height of the coronavirus outbreak.

West Midlands Police, the second largest force in the country, saw an estimated 75 per cent increase in applications in one week.

Before the pandemic, the force said it typically saw an average of around 140 applications a week – and this shot up to around 240 applications for the first week of April.

Many of the new recruits are already out patrolling the streets, either as part of their training or having completed the course.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “These new officers are truly inspiring and I’m delighted to see that the first of our planned

20,000 recruits are already helping to control the spread of the virus and save lives.”

Boris Johnson vowed to swell the police service to more than 140,000 officers by mid-2022 if he was elected Prime Minister.

Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Police officer numbers in England and Wales had fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009, with a reduction from 144,353 to 122,395 in 2018.

Previously John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said half a million applications would be needed to fill almost 55,000 new and existing police officer posts in order to make the Government’s recruitment drive a success.

But in April, the Home Office said the recruitment programme was “on track” to meet the first year’s target of 6,000 by March 2021 and officers would be in addition to those hired to fill existing roles.

According to the latest official figures, forces hired 3,005 extra officers in the first six months of the recruitment drive – taking the overall provisional headcount of officers in England and Wales to 131,596.

This is a five per cent rise on March last year, of which the recruitment drive accounts for about half, the Home Office report said.

When the first phase of the rollout was announced in October, the department pledged to provide £750m to support the 43 forces to recruit up the first wave of officers by the end of 2020/21.

This funding would cover all associated costs, including training and kit. Online assessment centres, among other measures, have been taken in efforts to keep recruitment going during the coronavirus pandemic.

These new officers are truly inspiring and I’m delighted.