Women are a force in largest intake as police recruits pass out

THE largest ever intake of newly qualified officers in Police Scotland’s four-year history have passed their training – with a third of the rookies being women.

A total of 174 recruits celebrated their Passing Out Parade at Scottish Police College, Tulliallan, Fife, in front of Chief Constable Phil Gormley and senior officers, plus 1,000 family and friends.

The students, who started their 11-week training course just before Christmas, were split into three divisions, with three classes in each division.

The force was keen to stress that 35 per cent were women and it is keen for applications from people interested in joining the service across society, and in particular ethnic groups. Mr Gormley said the passing out parade was a “significant landmark” in an officer’s career as they achieved their ambition of serving in communities.

The constables will now move on to a week’s local training and then into Operational Policing in Division.

The Scottish Government has a decade-long vow to keep officer numbers above 17,234. The figure is being monitored as Police Scotland tries to plug a £10 million deficit.