113 new officers have today (Friday 8^th September) completed seven weeks of training at Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme academy, developing the essential policing knowledge and skills to serve their communities as neighbourhood police officers.

Over the next two weeks, the new officers will land in forces across the country to continue Police Now’s two-year programme. They will spend 10-weeks working on Response units, gaining frontline experience and reaching Independent Patrol Status before they join their neighbourhood policing teams for the remainder of the programme. The officers will be supported by experienced colleagues and Police Now coaches to also achieve Full Operational Competence and work towards their Graduate Diploma in Professional Policing Practice, in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University. With a focus on community impact, problem solving, demand reduction and leadership, the new officers will work to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and build public confidence in policing.

Closing the academy and addressing the cohort today, Chief Constable Jason Hogg of Thames Valley Police said: “Policing is a fulfilling, challenging, interesting and diverse career. As a neighbourhood police officer, you will deal with a wide variety of issues at all levels of society and support vulnerable people within your communities who need you the most. You will uphold the law with honesty, integrity and compassion at all times and you will work extremely hard to support the public you serve.

“You are joining policing at a particularly challenging time, when public trust and confidence is lower than it has been for many years. Remember that every interaction you have with the public, however small, is a chance to change that. You are highly successful individuals who want to make a difference by serving others. Policing needs people just like you, who act and think differently and are prepared to challenge the status quo.

“Congratulations on everything you have achieved so far, as you come to the end of your academy training and prepare to arrive in your forces across the country. Continue to work hard and thank you in advance for everything you will do to fight crime and keep our communities safe.”

Police Constable Rachel Harris, who joins Greater Manchester Police via the programme, said: “Police Now gives you the qualities to become a leader within the police and use your skills to strive for change in your community, this is what I’m most looking forward to when going into force. I’ll be based in Salford and cannot wait to get started in the next phase of the programme.

“There is a great level of support and room for independence at the academy, so the balance has been great. I know I’ll be keeping in touch with my academy trainer for a long time, I can’t thank him enough for his support during the academy. I’ve already built strong relationships with the people not only in my force but also with officers from other forces nationally. I hope to see them all thrive, just like I want to myself.”

They are among over 2,750 officers across England and Wales that have been recruited, trained and developed by Police Now.

Police Now is committed to building a diverse police service that is representative of the communities it serves and consistently recruits more female officers and more officers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds than the national average. Of those on this cohort of the National Graduate Leadership Programme, 51% identify as female, 24% are from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background, 19% identify as LGBT+ and there are 22 languages spoken across the cohort.

Applications for the next intake on Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme are currently open.