Forces hire over 4,000 extra officers in recruitment drive
POLICE FORCES hired more than 4,000 extra officers – including 325 in Yorkshire – in the first eight months of the Government’s recruitment drive to sign up 20,000 more over the next three years.
The overall provisional headcount of officers in England and Wales is now 133,131, according to Home Office figures to the end of June.
This includes 4,336 hired as part of the 20,000 pledge made before the General Election by Prime Boris Johnson, the quarterly report on the progress of the scheme said.
The latest figures were announced as Mr Johnson and
Home Secretary Priti Patel visited the headquarters of North Yorkshire Police in Northallerton yesterday.
During the visit the PM was introduced to new police recruits, petted a police dog and sat atop a police motorbike.
Although the number of police officers is rising there are still 10 per cent fewer on duty compared to peak numbers just over a decade ago, according to other figures also
Home Secretary Priti Patel. published by the department yesterday.
The recruitment campaign is 72 per cent towards meeting its first year target of 6,000 by March 2021, the Home Office said.
So far, 89,950 applications to become a police officer have been received since the campaign launched in October.
The national total of 4,000 extra officers includes 325 in Yorkshire and the Humber, including 42 additional officers for Humberside Police, 69 for North Yorkshire Police and 222 for West Yorkshire Police.
South Yorkshire Police is still eight officers below their ‘baseline level’ because it has not managed to achieve the recruitment of officers it predicted before the PM’s announcement last year.
Overall, 9,327 officers have joined forces since November, with the new recruits from the campaign being on top of those hired to fill existing vacancies or as part of other job adverts.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “We are delivering on the people’s priorities – putting more police officers on the streets to keep us safe.
“Our brave police officers have gone above and beyond during the coronavirus pandemic, clearly inspiring many others to join them.
“My support for them remains unwavering – they deserve our utmost gratitude and respect.”
Mr Johnson visited Yorkshire when he announced the recruitment scheme last year.
But his speech at West Yorkshire Police’s Carr Gate base was overshadowed by his brother Jo quitting the Government because of his views on Brexit.
And he had to apologise to a police recruit who collapsed after being made to wait around while Mr Johnson made his speech.
Number 10 and West Yorkshire Police were later criticised for allowing police recruits to be used for a party political speech.
Mr Johnson vowed to swell the police service to more than 140,000 officers by mid-2022 if he was elected Prime Minister.
We are putting more police officers on the streets to keep us safe.