Nineteen new police constables land in Thames Valley 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 Caitlin Neal, who has just completed the academy and joins Thames Valley Police today via the programme, said: “I’ve always been a proactive person who wanted to help people and make a change and I feel Police Now’s mission really aligned with this.  The academy has been a chance for me to test myself, learn so much about policing and to be a part of the next generation of police officers. It is amazing to work with likeminded, hard-working individuals nationally. I have made some brilliant friends and we all help each other on the challenging days. I would easily recommend Police Now to everyone; the hard work pays off. I am looking forward to working with communities in Thames Valley and truly make a difference to peoples lives, and to keep building on the skills we have already been developing at academy.”

The new officers were trained at the academy by experienced officers seconded from Police Now’s partner forces, including Police Sergeant Tom Hughes and Acting Police Sergeant Samuel Summers from Thames Valley Police.

A/PS Samuel Summers said: “I have been genuinely impressed by the determination and grit to succeed that has been demonstrated by the participants at the National Graduate Leadership Programme academy. It has been an absolute privilege to watch as their confidence and abilities has grown day by day. I am confident that they will be a credit to Thames Valley Police as they go forward with their careers.”

Police Constable Abdullah Rafie, who was raised in the Middle East before moving to the UK for his master’s degree, 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.