The Best Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Strategy award is presented to the organisation that places D&I at its heart and offers excellent support to women and people from underrepresented backgrounds.  

Focusing on building trust by openly addressing the real and complex issues facing policing today, Police Now seeks to break down the barriers that typically prevent people from underrepresented backgrounds from applying to join or progressing within the police service.  

With their bold and targeted campaign, Police Now were commended for examining different communities in depth and really understanding the lived and diverse experiences affecting them. They build real-life issues into their assessments, such as disproportionate use of stop and search, modern day slavery and misogyny within policing culture.  

Applicants and participants on the National Graduate Leadership Programme and National Detective Programme are offered personal and tailored support, such as one-on-one mentoring and access to a bespoke online community. They are supported through every step of their onboarding process and programme, to help them effectively problem-solve, constructively challenge the status quo and tackle discrimination wherever it is found. 

Last year, Police Now expanded their support within the sector by piloting the Frontline Leadership Programme, a one-year development programme which focuses on supporting talented constables from underrepresented groups into leadership roles, helping them break down barriers and lead from the front in ways that build trust and confidence in the police service. 

Judges were impressed by Police Now’s results, with feedback from line managers and colleagues showing that 84% of Police Now officers were already considered able to challenge others respectfully despite being new to the force. The award also recognised that Police Now consistently recruits more women and more people from underrepresented backgrounds than the national average in policing, and more than half of participants who joined in 2022 via the National Graduate Leadership Programme (54%) and National Detective Programme (52%) were not planning to join the police before hearing about Police Now. 

Clare Power, Police Now’s Recruitment and Marketing Director, said: “We are not only dedicated to getting the right people into policing – those who are passionate about driving real, positive change within their communities and within the service – but also to supporting our officers throughout their policing careers and into decision-making roles, where they can affect long-lasting change. The public deserve the most committed and capable officers who can transform communities, bring new insights and experiences to the frontline, and constructively challenge the culture problems affecting policing so the service can truly reflect the communities it seeks to serve. This means looking at and understanding a range of different communities and individuals, their relationships with the police, and what matters to them the most, so we can begin to break down barriers and improve public confidence in policing. 

“I am delighted that we have been recognised in this year’s awards, despite being up against well-known industry giants, for our bespoke and personal approach which places equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do. We have maintained strong results despite the significant challenges that both the policing and graduate recruitment sectors have faced over the last two years. This is testament to the hard work of my colleagues and the support from our partners in the Home Office and police forces across England and Wales, as well as the passionate graduates who continue to apply to our programmes and go on to make a huge impact within policing.” 

The HR Excellence Awards are open to UK-based organisations and shine a light on best practice to celebrate the community’s greatest asset, its people. The awards were judged by an independent panel of judges and presented on Tuesday 6th December, at The Brewery in London. Last week, Police Now were also named in the Inclusive Top 50 Employers list 2022.