Over 220 new trainee detective constables land in fourteen forces across England and Wales today (Monday 26th June), having just completed Police Now’s National Detective Programme academy.  

The 13-week residential academy began in March and has equipped participants with the core policing and detective skills required for complex investigative work. The training has included a mix of practical and classroom-based sessions, led by experienced sergeants seconded from Police Now’s partner forces, and field training shifts in Response and Criminal Investigation Departments. Officers have been formally assessed on their abilities and knowledge throughout the academy and sat the challenging National Investigators’ Exam (NIE). Police Now officers at academy consistently achieve a higher-than-average first-time pass rate for the NIE. At this year’s detective academy, there was an average first-time pass rate of 75% compared to the national average of 59%.  

Assistant Chief Constable Sharn Basra of Bedfordshire Police delivered a keynote address to the new officers at the academy closing ceremony (15th – 16th June), in his last ever policing appearance before officially retiring that week. He said: “I look over the room, as I come to the end of my career, and I see the future of policing. You will change policing and you will improve policing for the better. I have no doubt that during your academy training you have worked hard, you have been professional and you have had fun. Continue to do this throughout the next stages of your training and the rest of your policing careers. Policing is tough, you will have some bad days, you will see things that other people won’t see and you will experience things that other people shouldn’t have to experience. But you will change people’s lives and you will save people’s lives. The good days will always overtake the bad, as you support those that need you the most and secure justice for victims.” 

Trainee Detective Constable Sophie Maw, who joins Humberside Police today via the programme, said: “From loving my job in a secondary school to starting this programme, Police Now has ensured I have not regretted my decision to switch career pathways. The academy has been an incredibly rewarding experience, it has not only taught us invaluable skills for policing but also how to look after our welfare, look out for colleagues and be confident to stand up for what is right – the latter being so important in the challenging time policing is facing. Police Now has given us all a strong foundation, which I am excited to build upon back in force. We are all ready to get stuck in and make change in communities through trustworthy and honest policing.” 

The trainee detectives will now continue Police Now’s two-year training and development programme in force, supported by their experienced colleagues and Police Now Performance and Development Coaches. They will reach Independent Patrol Status within the first ten-weeks of joining their forces, meaning they’re able to spend more time on the frontline supporting their communities, and will be Professionalising Investigations Programme Level 2 (PIP2) certified by the end of the two-year programme. They will also work towards their Graduate Diploma in Professional Policing Practice, in partnership with Liverpool John Moore’s University.  

Police Now is a Times Top 100 Graduate Employer and has partnered with a total of 36 forces to recruit and train over 2,680 police officers and detectives nationally.

Police Now typically attracts those who had not previously considered a career in policing and seeks to empower officers to challenge cultures, build public confidence in policing and support the communities that need them the most. Of those that started on the National Detective Programme this year, 58% had never considered a career in policing before hearing about Police Now and 70% are career changers. 

The forces that Police Now has partnered with for this cohort of the National Detective Programme are: 

• Avon & Somerset Police  
• Bedfordshire Police 
• City of London Police  
• Devon & Cornwall Police  
• Greater Manchester Police  
• Gwent Police  
• Dyfed-Powys Police  
• Hertfordshire Constabulary  
• Humberside Police  
• South Yorkshire Police  
• Staffordshire Police  
• Thames Valley Police  
• West Mercia Police  
• West Midlands Police