An extra 8,771 police officers have been recruited to cut
crime and keep communities across the country safer as part
of the government’s campaign to bring in 20,000 additional
officers, new Home Office figures published today (Thursday
29 April) show.
As of 31 March 2021, every one of the 43 police forces in
England and Wales has hit or surpassed its first-year
recruitment target since the launch of the Police Uplift
Programme in September 2019.
The new figures show that the government is already 44% of
the way towards meeting its ambition of hiring 20,000
additional officers by 2023, with many of these new
recruits already on the streets and doing their bit to
protect neighbourhoods.
The Police Uplift Programme is an unprecedented opportunity
to create a more representative police workforce, and the
statistics show that forces are more diverse than ever
before.
More women (45,996) are now employed as police officers in
forces across England and Wales than ever before. Since
April 2020, 42% (5,037) of the new recruits have identified
as female.
The number of Black, Asian and other ethnic minority
officers is also now at its highest point on record, with
10,218 officers from these communities employed in forces
across England and Wales. Since April 2020, recruits from
these communities have made up 10.6% (1,212) of all
joiners.
The data shows the appetite for thousands to join the
police has continued despite the coronavirus pandemic, with
online assessment processes, virtual career fairs, and
internet workshops continuing to run safely during
lockdown.
Policing Minister said:
Joining the police to help make neighbourhoods safer is a
noble career and I am heartened to see thousands more
people make that choice.
An increase of 8,771 officers is a great achievement, and
I want to thank forces for their considerable efforts to
help us exceed our target for the first year of the
recruitment campaign.
It is fantastic that our police forces are now more
diverse than ever before, but we know there is still more
work to do to on this front – I will continue working
with police leaders to ensure our forces are truly
representative of the communities they serve.
