70,000 apply to join police in recruitment drive

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% 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.

Two of the trainee officers who spoke to the PA news agency were undeterred by starting out in a new career during the pandemic, both telling of their life-long ambition to join the police.

Former plant nursery manager Verity Steele, who joined Staffordshire Police to take on her dream job after becoming a mother, said she was taking “sensible precautions” at work and thinks the circumstances will help prepare her for what lies ahead.

The 40-year-old, who is originally from Essex but now lives near Stokeon-Trent and has been “hooked” on joining the police from a young age, said: “It’s not how I would have necessarily chosen to start my police career but then again who could have predicted a pandemic.

“I don’t know any different.”