The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Thames Valley has welcomed yesterday’s (5/9) announcement of a national campaign to recruit 20,000 new police officers.
The ‘Be a force for all’ campaign launch follows the funding announcement by the Chancellor to support the recruitment of a first wave of up to 6,000 officers, who will be shared among the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales. This includes £750 million for 2020 to 2021 and an immediate £45 million to kick-start recruitment.
This follows a number of positive conversations between the Police and Crime Commissioner and the government in recent weeks.
Anthony Stansfeld, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, said: “I was delighted to hear yesterday’s announcement, following my recent positive discussions with government on this."
“This addition of new officers over the next four years will ensure that Thames Valley Police can continue to tackle crime and keep communities safe. I will continue to press the need for the Thames Valley to receive the share of these new officers it requires.”
The ‘Be a force for all’ campaign features serving police officers and a website has been created to direct potential recruits to the recruitment pages of local police forces. In August, Thames Valley Police launched its new careers website and hosted a Facebook Live event focused on recruitment.
John Campbell, Chief Constable for Thames Valley Police, said: “This is a very welcome development both for Thames Valley Police and for the communities that we serve. We know that crime is becoming more complex and maintaining the quality of investigation in a digital age requires more resources. This uplift in our numbers will help us to continue protecting the most vulnerable in our communities and stop crime from happening in the first place.”
Thames Valley Police is expecting to benefit from the uplift in policing numbers announced in August. Target recruitment numbers for Thames Valley Police have not yet been confirmed.
Further details on the national campaign can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-campaign-to-recruit-20000-police-officers-launches-today.
