Seventeen new police constables land in Surrey Police today (Monday 7^th November), where they will work to transform communities, reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, and build public confidence in the police service as neighbourhood police officers.  

The new officers have just completed Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme academy, where they were equipped with the core knowledge and skills required of a police constable. The seven-week residential academy trained 148 new police constables, who all land in their respective forces across the country today and are part of over 2,450 officers who have been recruited nationally by Police Now to date.  

The officers were selected out of thousands of applicants to Police Now’s programme, which recruits, trains and develops outstanding and diverse graduates with a commitment to public service and a belief in the enormous positive social change that exceptional community policing can deliver. 

The officers will now continue to develop their leadership and problem-solving skills in force for the remainder of the two-year programme and beyond. They will also work towards their Graduate Diploma in Professional Policing Practice, in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University.  

Police Constable Sabrina Bosini Tigreros, who has just completed the academy and joins Surrey Police today via the programme, said: “What motivated me to join Police Now is its mission to transform communities, reduce crime and increase the public’s confidence in policing, also how it values and welcomes people from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Academy has been fast-paced and challenging and has helped us develop the leadership and problem-solving skills that will have an immediate and lasting influence on the communities we will serve. I have really enjoyed our training and am looking forward to using my new abilities here at Surrey Police and to see the positive and life-changing impact of the work we do”. 

The new officers were trained at the academy by experienced officers seconded from Police Now’s partner forces, including Acting Police Sergeants Heather Milne and Katherine Stevens from Surrey Police.

A/PS Heather Milne said: “I usually work in training school at Surrey Police so I joined Police Now to see what I could bring to the role, but also what I could learn from experienced officers and Police Now staff. The people that decide to become police officers through Police Now come from all walks of life and experiences, I have loved meeting them and know that they are the future of policing. It has been intense and tough at times but the teamwork has been great and I’ve made so many friends.”

A/PS Katherine Stevens, who trained on Police Now’s programme six years ago and has returned this year as an academy trainer, said: “I joined Surrey Police via Police Now nearly six years ago and I was really keen to support the new officers joining Surrey via this route this year, to ensure they have a good grounding at academy before landing in force. The participants have been incredibly hard-working and their passion and commitment for the role has been evident throughout their individual academy processes. This is a fantastic team of seventeen officers who have a real desire to help others and are fully committed to serving the Surrey public.”

Police Constable Jonny Smale, formerly a professional musician before pursuing his dream to become a police officer with Police Now, has been sharing his full experience of Police Now’s academy here.

Applications for Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme are currently open. To read more about the impact that Police Now officers are making nationally, please see their latest Impact Report here.