Make an impact
Partner with us
Partner with us to transform communities, reduce crime, and increase public confidence in policing.
Our 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.
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Police Now delivers national programmes in partnership with the Home Office and police forces across England and Wales. Since we were founded in 2015, we have partnered with 37 police forces to deliver our programmes. Together, we bring outstanding and diverse individuals with a passion for public service into policing and give them the training and support they need to be leaders in society and on the policing frontline.
Police Now is a social enterprise that promotes public service in communities. We support police forces to deliver improved outcomes for communities and every penny we have we reinvest into the programmes and the police service.
Our National Graduate Programme, with specialisms in Neighbourhood Policing, Detectives and more, offer intellectual challenge, a fast-paced learning environment and responsibility for transformational change from the outset.
Our Partner Forces
Since our inception in 2015, we’ve partnered with 37 police forces to provide career opportunities nationwide and develop best practice. We welcome the opportunity to work with new forces and organisations across our national programmes, collectively recruiting outstanding individuals into the service.
How do we attract and recruit brilliant graduates?
Times Top 100
We are recognised in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers directory at 33rd place and are the only ranking policing organisation.
Each year final year students at universities across the UK are interviewed, to establish the leading employers recruiting graduates. They are asked for open responses to the question: ‘Which organisation do you think offers the best opportunities for graduates?’
Upile, Detective Inspector
Frequently Asked Questions
How can detectives become PIP2 certified after just two years?
On the detective specialism of the programme, trainee detectives work towards passing the National Investigators’ Exam (NIE) at the end of Police Now’s 13-week academy and are expected to achieve Independent Patrol Status within 10 weeks of joining the force, allowing them to spend more time on the frontline supporting their communities. Officers sit the NIE within the first three months of the programme and have a first-time pass rate that is higher than the policing national average. Of our 2022 detective cohort, the average first-time pass rate was 83%, compared to a policing national average of 70%. After completing the academy and force immersion period, Police Now participants will spend the remainder of the two-year programme deployed in their force – predominately within CID teams.
Throughout the programme, participants will evidence their professional competencies to achieve Full Operational Competence and PIP1 and PIP2 accreditation, in line with the College of Policing’s specifications and guidelines. They will work to solve complex cases and safeguard vulnerable people with the support of a personal tutor, Police Now Performance and Development Coach and force colleagues. By developing the skills and knowledge required of a modern-day investigator, we expect participants to be confirmed in rank detectives by the end of the two years.
What implementation resources are required from forces?
Police forces partnering with Police Now are required to support with the practical implementation of the two-year programme to ensure that participants are supported and trained to the highest standard.
Partnering forces will:
- Support in setting up and carrying out in-force pre-employment check activity (vetting, medical etc).
- Support in setting up and carrying out in-force academy activity (Officer Safety Training/Emergency Life Saving, IT training, field training, immersion period support)
- Provide a seconded Syndicate Lead for the academy; these officers will support the delivery of our training (also see ‘What is the role of a Syndicate Lead?’). We require one Syndicate Lead for every 10 officers that are recruited for the force.
- Support in accessing and upskilling tutors and line managers, to ensure participants achieve Full Operational Competence (as well as PIP1 and PIP2 for detectives) within two years.
- Attend monthly implementation governance meetings.
- Provide escalation points to ensure we meet the overall objectives of our partnerships.
When will officers reach Full Operational Competency (FOC) / Professionalising Investigations Programme Level 2 (PIP2)?
Over the two-year programme, participants gain the skills and experience needed to become well-rounded substantive police constables or detective constables. Our programme is comprehensive, and participants are expected to have completed all their core policing competencies by the end of the two years.
After completing Police Now’s academy, participants on both the neighbourhood and detective specialism will undertake an immersion period on the force Response team. Within 10 weeks of joining the force, participants are expected to have attained Independent Patrol Status. Throughout the rest of the programme, they will work with support from their personal tutor, sergeant and Police Now Performance and Development Coach, to achieve Full Operational Competence.
Officers on the detective specialism will also take their National Investigators’ Exam (NIE) at the end of the initial 13-week Police Now academy and will complete the Professionalising Investigations Programme Levels 1 and 2 (PIP1 and PIP2) over the first and second years of the programme.
What is the Police Now academy? Are participants ready for frontline duty when they land in force?
Police Now’s academy is an intensive introductory training programme delivered by outstanding, high performing frontline police officers (Syndicate Leads), who are or have been constables and sergeants themselves. Training is delivered through a mixture of classroom-based and practical activities – including in-force Officer Safety Training/Emergency Life Saving, IT training and field training shifts. The training meets and exceeds the College of Policing foundation police training requirements and includes all mandatory training to ensure that recruits have the essential skills and knowledge ready for starting in force.
Alongside the foundational police training, officers on the detective specialism of the programme will learn the skills and knowledge necessary to pass the National Investigators’ Exam (NIE), which they will take at the end of the academy.
What is the duration of the Police now academy?
Typically, our academy lasts for eight weeks for participants on the neighbourhood specialism of the programme, and thirteen weeks for those on the detective specialism.
What is the role of a Syndicate Lead?
During our academies, Syndicate Leads are crucial to the development and training of our participants. They play a key role in the delivery of Police Now’s mission through training, teaching, leading and mentoring participants through their first steps to becoming trainee detective constables or neighbourhood police officers.
Syndicate Leads are seconded operational sergeants and inspectors from our partner police forces and lead participants in learning their foundational policing skills via Police Now’s fine-tuned curriculum. They bring the expertise of being an operational police officer and share their lived experience of the role. Syndicate Leads are usually from the force participants land in, so will be a friendly face throughout the two-year programme.
What impact have Police Now participants had in force and their communities?
Since Police Now was founded in 2015, our officers have made a significant impact in the communities they serve. We regularly hear from our officers across England and Wales about the work they have been involved in and the positive difference they have been making in their communities and teams – examples include a participant in Greater Manchester Police leading an initiative which could save the force over £7 million each year and a participant from West Midlands Police who was instrumental in the UK’s first pilot of the life-saving drug Naloxone. Read more in our Impact Report or Police Now News.
Will Police Now participants want to leave policing after two years?
The retention and progression of diverse, talented officers is vital for the transformation of the policing workforce and long-lasting impact in communities. Upon completing the two-year programme, officers typically remain in force and continue to receive support from Police Now’s Alumni and Ambassadors team.
Police Now participant retention rates are high and consistent across our core programmes by ethnicity and gender. Of those on the second and third detective cohorts, 85% chose to stay policing at the end of the programme, including 88% of those who were female and 80% of the those who identified as Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background. Of those on the third detective cohort, 75% say they aspire to reach a senior leadership role during their policing career.
Your impact
Police Now’s National Graduate Programme allows you to positively impact the lives of the most vulnerable in society.
Young people’s confidence in the police has increased by 17% in the communities where Police Now neighbourhood police officers operate.
Neigbourhood
Recruiting graduates to train as neighbourhood police officers and become leaders in society on the policing frontline.
Detective
Attracting outstanding graduates to become trainee detectives, who learn core policing skills required in modern investigative work.
Assessment & selection process
Our award-winning assessment and selection process is designed to identify candidates who are committed to public service.
