Police Now are delighted to have been awarded further funding to recruit more Police Constables and Trainee Detective Constables. The policing minister Nick Hurd MP, announced in the police funding settlement today that “we will also support Police Now who are attracting fresh talent into neighbourhood policing and the role of detectives.”

This means Police Now will be able to recruit at least 250 neighbourhood police officers and 50-70 trainee detective constables, in a new pilot programme already announced this year.

Some of the money will support the pilot detective programme, currently in development, with more details to be announced next year.

Police Now has already recruited over 640 Police Constables (PCs) to date in 25 forces and we are currently recruiting a further 300 PCs for this year. Today’s funding will provide for at least 250 additional PCs in the future, meaning we will have recruited over 1200 frontline officers.

Police Now actively target individuals from diverse backgrounds. Of those who started the programme in 2018, 58% would not have considered a career in the police without Police Now, 53% identify as female, 12% identify as black and ethnic minority (24% in London) and 11% identify as LGBTQ.

Police Now only exists due to the continuous support from partner police forces, the Home Office and charitable donations. This additional support from the Home Office will help forces to invest further in neighbourhood policing, crime prevention, demand reduction and driving innovation through the policing frontline.

Police Now’s CEO David Spencer said:

“This additional funding represents a vote of confidence in our excellent participants and their incredible colleagues who are working to transform the most vulnerable communities, increasing public confidence and decreasing crime.”