Cambridgeshire police hit officer recruitment target nine months early

Nineteen officers were sworn in yesterday (24 June) at the first attestation ceremony for those joining through the Constabulary’s direct entry detective programme.

It brings the force’s police officer numbers to 1658, ahead of the 1648 officer number’s target that the force was set for the end of 2021/22.

Nationally, the provisional headcount in England and Wales as of 31 March this year was 137,704 and forces had already recruited a total of 8,771 (of the 20,000 target by March 2023).

Cambridgeshire’s new recruits have just started their officer training and were sworn in by the Chair of Cambridgeshire Magistrates Ian Balmer and welcomed to the force by Chief Constable Nick Dean and Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston.

They are on the Constabulary’s accelerated detective constable programme, which was launched last autumn and streamlines the route to becoming a detective constable. It uses the normal police officer recruitment and training process but at the end of the two-year programme recruits become fully qualified detectives.

The second recruitment window to the programme is currently open and more information can be found on the website.

Mr Dean said: “Reaching our recruitment target for end of this financial year so early is great news for Cambridgeshire and importantly it will contribute towards enhancing our policing service to communities right across the county.

“The fact it was an accelerated detective constable programme cohort that got us there, is a great way of showing the diversity of routes now available to becoming a police officer.

“It also demonstrates that Cambridgeshire Constabulary is open to trying new and innovative recruitment processes. Policing is still a fantastic career and we see a large number of applicants putting themselves forward to join us. The new recruits today have done remarkably well and I welcome them to the constabulary.”

Mr Preston said: “This is fantastic news for communities across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

“Recruiting so many new police officers is a top priority and fundamental to the Chief Constable’s policing model and this is evidenced by the hard work both he and others have put into the recruitment process.

“I am pleased to welcome today’s new recruits and want to congratulate them on joining the constabulary – more police officers keeping us all safe.”