Staffordshire Police uplift programme set to deliver on priorities

Staffordshire Police is on track to deliver its policing priorities thanks to an influx of new recruits reflected in the latest figures released by the Home Office last week (Wednesday 25 January).

As part of the national Police Uplift Programme, a total of 374 new recruits joined the Staffordshire force from November 2019 to December 2021, and by December last year, the number of recruits had risen further to 584.

The figures also show that there are now, as of December 2022, a total of 646 female officers out of a total of 1,879, meaning that overall, 34 percent of our workforce is female.

As part of the recruitment programme, a total of 216 women joined the force up to December 2022, alongside 274 men – meaning that 44 percent of new recruits are female, while a total of 5.3 percent of these new officers identify as from an ethnic minority, up from 3.5 percent overall.

Though we recognise there is more to do to ensure policing is representative of the communities we serve, we know that, nationally, the number of officers from an ethnic minority is now at its highest ever.

Not only this, but the Government has worked with Chief Constables and the College of Policing to modernise, standardise and increase resilience in the recruitment process to ensure forces are able to hire the additional officers to keep communities safe.

New recruits are subject to a rigorous vetting and assessment process to assess suitability for the role of police officer, including testing against core behaviours and values.

Nationally, the overwhelming majority of new recruits recently surveyed reported positive job satisfaction and want to remain officers for the rest of their working lives and compared to other public sectors, voluntary resignations in policing remain low at 2.5 percent.

Chief Constable, Chris Noble, said: “I am pleased that these figures reflect the continual work we are doing in Staffordshire to recruit and retain new officers.

“Though I acknowledge there is still a significant amount of work to do to meet our local targets, we are on track to meet the government’s national 20,000 new officers’ recruitment aim by April 2023.

“The recruitment of new officers remains a priority for us and we will continue to do all we can to ensure we attract the right people to the right posts and retain them for fruitful and successful careers in the future.”

Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Ben Adams, said: “Staffordshire Police continue to make excellent progress with their officer recruitment programme, and are on course to not only achieve their targets but exceed them in 2023.

“This is great news for the people of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, who tell me that they want to see more officers in their communities, more visible and more responsive, and dealing with the issues that matter to them.”

To find out more about careers with Staffordshire Police, visit: https://careers.staffordshire.police.uk