Diverse appeal of Met trainee plan

MORE than half of new recruits for the Metropolitan Police’s direct entry detective scheme last year were females, figures from the programme showed.

The Met added that 30 per cent of the applications that it received in November 2020 as part of the scheme, which started in 2017, were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) candidates.

The direct entry detectives join on a two-year trainee programme, in association with four London universities.

Upon completion of the training, the roles for detective constables range from working to safeguard children or vulnerable adults, investigating serious organised crime groups, or developing intelligence in murder investigations.

The majority of the initial training was on the frontline, learning alongside experienced officers, the Met said.

“Since starting the scheme, we have consistently seen over half of the new detectives being women. This direct entry route is also appealing to BAME candidates and we will continue to build on this as we want the Met to be as diverse as London,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Tara McGovern, who leads on the detective programme.

Trainee Detective Constable Monia Candian, who joined the Met in November 2018, said: “I had a long career in retail management but I was looking for a change and a job that would be exciting to get up for.

“If you put the effort in and are willing to learn, it doesn’t matter that you haven’t been a uniformed officer before.”

Application are open for degree-holders and for a limited time only. For more details, see www.met.police.uk/detectives