Join the police: skills for life

If you’re looking for a career that makes a real difference to others, our graduate opportunities offer real life skills, and the chance to change the story.

By joining the police through one of Police Now’s national graduate programmes, you’ll make a positive impact on society and improve the lives of those around you.

Develop skills for a lifetime

Completing a Police Now national graduate programme is a uniquely challenging and rewarding experience. Wherever you train nationally, you can expect the environment to be fast-paced, giving you an opportunity to have an immediate and lasting impact.

Over the course of an intensive two-year training programmes you’ll gain leadership experience in a unique environment. We’ll develop your skills in negotiation, problem solving, decision-making, as well as your resilience and emotional intelligence.

You’ll get used to performing under pressure, with a continuous cycle of growth and development. The experience you’ll gain will allow you to perform at the highest level as a detective or neighbourhood police officer, as well as develop transferable skills relevant to careers outside policing across the private and public sector.

Work on big societal issues

On a Police Now national graduate programme, you’ll be helping to create safer communities. You’ll work proactively to tackle long term problems and improve quality of life for people living in the communities you serve.

Spending two years embedded in one community will give you an opportunity to experience the issues and to begin developing an understanding of complex challenges.

Our programmes give you full ownership and responsibility to effect positive change, so you’ll really see the impact of the work you do.

Your impact

By joining a Police Now national graduate programme you’ll be able to positively impact the lives of the most vulnerable in society.

View our Impact Report

85% of participants passed the National Investigators’ Exam first time, which is 23% higher than the national average.

Diversity and inclusion in action

Our national graduate programmes represent a wide range of backgrounds. Together we are stronger.

Strengthening the police service with diverse talent

We recruit high-achieving graduates from diverse backgrounds, especially those who might not have previously considered policing.

There are a diverse set of professional skills needed to be a neighbourhood police officer or detective, and policing benefits greatly from individuals with socially diverse backgrounds and experiences. In joining one of our programmes, you’ll be at the forefront learning about cultural differences and understand the needs within communities – this awareness creates stronger connections.

With a representative and diverse workforce, police forces are more effective in improving the public’s confidence and trust in policing.

We strive to inspire, recruit and train graduates who are representative of the communities they serve.

• 58% of applicants to Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme had never previously considered joining the police
Of those who started the National Detective Programme in 2019
• 10% are from a black, asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background
• 61% identify as female
• 12% identify as LGBTQ
• 51% are the first in their family to go to university
• They graduated from 45 different academic institutions and speak 12 unique languages

DC Mtitimila’s
Police Now Journey

DC Mtitimila is a detective sergeant who originally started his career in the police as a neighbourhood police officer on Police Now’s National Graduate Leadership Programme.

Here he talks about the training he received from Police Now and the work he has done in his community as a neighbourhood police officer.

Watch how DC Mtitimila changed the story in Widnes, Cheshire.

Secondments and attachments

During the second year of the programme, you’ll have an opportunity to spend up to four weeks on an external secondment or internal attachment within your force.

External secondments are a fantastic way to experience professional life outside the police service. You’ll learn new skills and gain valuable experience working with outside partners.

Life after the programme

Once you’ve successfully finished your two-year training programme, you’ll be a fully warranted police detective or officer. You can stay in your current role, apply for further development opportunities with a specialist unit, or you may even feel you have the necessary skills and motivation to apply for promotion.

We are proud that 80% of our alumni do stay in policing, but your experience with Police Now will also equip you with transferable skills relevant to across the public and private sector.