Twenty-three Police Constables on the Police Now National Graduate Leadership Programme attended their passing out parade, alongside other officers, with Essex Police on Friday (8th October 2021), officially welcoming them into force.  

The parade took place at Essex Police Headquarters and was attended by Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington and guests including Policing Minister Kit Malthouse MP, Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst, and Bishop of Colchester Roger Morris.

Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington told the new recruits, and their families:

“I wish to be clear that as Chief Constable I accept the challenge to rebuild the bond of trust between the police – the men and women here – and all those who we are here to protect.

“I accept this challenge because when I see your commitment and when I see the support of your loved ones here today, I feel proud and privileged to be your Chief Constable and because I know that you are with me. I will also make a promise to you and to the people of Essex.

“I promise that as you carry out your duties insofar as they are lawful, necessary and proportionate, you will have my unwavering support. I promise your families that as colleagues, we will look after each other.

“And I promise that we will not rest until our county and our society is a safe place for every man, every woman and every child who lives here.”

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said:

“I am delighted to see these women and men starting new careers at Essex Police – they join the ranks of nearly 10,000 others across the country who have been hired as part of our flagship police recruitment campaign, motivated by the desire to make a difference and protect the public from harm.

“The police workforce is changing – we now have more female police officers in England and Wales than ever before and the number of ethnic minority police officers is the highest on record – and we want to see police forces becoming even more representative of the communities they serve.

“I want to congratulate and thank these new recruits who join hard working, committed police officers up and down the country, who feel passionately about the job they do and keeping the public safe.”

The 23 participants are part of a cohort of over 300 officers who were attested at the Police Now academies this summer and deployed across 14 forces in England and Wales. 

They will continue their training in force as neighbourhood police officers on the two-year National Graduate Leadership Programme, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in their local communities.  

Essex Police has partnered with Police Now for the past five years and has recruited a total of 110 police constables to the force via the programme.   

In total, Police Now has recruited over 2,000 officers across 33 forces in England and Wales since it was established 6 years ago and in 2020/21 it recruited the largest ethnic minority diversity to be achieved in national police recruitment in this country. 

Police Now’s mission is to transform communities, reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, and increase the public’s confidence in the police service by recruiting, developing and inspiring outstanding and diverse individuals to be leaders in society and on the policing frontline.