More than 3,000 officers recruited in uplift Home Office figures show

Forces across England and Wales have recruited an additional 3,005 officers since the launch of the government’s 20,000 uplift last September.

The Home Office said these statistics show forces are on track to meet the target of 6,000 by March 2021, and 20,000 within the next three years.

Figures released today (30 April) show forces recruited a total 6,435 officers from November 2019 to March 2020, including recruitment planned before the government campaign was announced.

The College of Policing is rolling out new online assessment centres so recruitment can progress during the lockdown. West Midlands and Hampshire are already trialing the platform, which will be launched nationally in June.

There are now a total of 131,596 officers, a five per cent increase on March 2019. Uplift officers account for approximately half on this increase.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Each one of these brave officers will make a difference in helping to cut crime and keep people safe. For many, their first role has been to join the fight to stop the spread of coronavirus, protect the NHS and save lives.

“Thanks to new digital assessment centres, the doors remain wide open for anyone who wants to join them and make a difference in their community.”

She added: “Getting more police officers on the streets is an absolute priority for the British people – and this Government.”

National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) Chair Martin Hewitt said: “With over 3,000 additional officers already joining policing in the past seven months, we are well on our way to meeting our target of 6,000 by March next year.

“Working with the Home Office, we are making every effort to keep recruitment of officers going despite all the challenges coronavirus brings. Creative solutions from the College of Policing will help to ensure this momentum is not lost and that recruitment and training can continue during the pandemic.”

APCC Chair Katy Bourne OBE said: “The positive latest figures for police officer recruitment show that police forces are being innovative in the face of adversity, adapting assessment and training procedures to safely manage the onboarding of the maximum number of new recruits.”

Figures from the NPCC showed that overall crime fell by 28 per cent in the first few weeks of the coronavirus outbreak.

PCC Bourne went on to say: “Although we know that the volume of many crime types has fallen due to travel and social restrictions, crime is like water, it always finds a level and the pandemic has created the circumstances for other crimes to mushroom. When there are more people back on the streets there will, sadly, be more crime so we still need those additional police officers that the public have been calling for.”

College CEO, Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, said: “The recruitment figures released today are extremely encouraging and demonstrate the scale and breadth of the positive work that has been undertaken so far to increase police officer numbers.

"The numbers joining the service show that huge progress is already being made to recruit an additional 20,000 officers over the next three years. This investment in the workforce provides a great opportunity to enhance diversity across the service and the College of Policing will equip those joining with the skills and training needed to match the complexity of the job."

“The College of Policing is working hard to enable forces to continue to recruit during the current emergency by introducing online recruit assessment and other measures to help get officers on the streets so they can keep their communities safe,” he added.

Table showing number of officers allocated in year 1 of uplfit and the nymber of new recruits from November 2019 to March 2020: