Recruitment of officers increases in Humberside in line with national targets

Message from Humberside Police:

As part of a national approach to recruitment, Humberside Police is working hard alongside the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and College of Policing to deliver on the Government’s commitment of 20,000 additional officers nationally by March 2023.

Although Humberside has previously carried out extensive recruitment campaigns, this national drive in three years is unprecedented. In the 12 months to June 2021, our area saw police officer numbers increase by 9% on the previous year, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The recruitment process was reviewed in the light of government guidelines, but still continued – albeit in a different manner.

Nationally, 9,814 new officers have so far been recruited out of the 20,000 target.

Also, the number of new recruits in Humberside compared favourably to the previous 12 months.

Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs Council, said: “These additional officers are most welcome as demand for policing services continues to increase post Covid. The figures show a good step forward, but there is much more to be done to continue to attract and recruit new officers and to retain those already in policing.” 

We are striving to attract the best and most talented candidates to a career in policing. A substantial uplift in officer numbers gives us the opportunity to increase the diversity of our workforce, to better represent the communities we serve.

The recruitment drive is helping to make police more representative of the communities they serve. More than six thousand (6,033) female officers have been recruited nationally since April 2020, making up 42% of new recruits.

In Humberside, the proportion of female recruits is higher than the previous three years.

Nationally, there are also more black, Asian and other ethnic minorities employed as officers across forces than at any other time in the country’s history, making up 11.3% of the new recruits.

This is also the case in Humberside, with recruits from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds improving from previous years.

Recruitment is encouraged by everyone, including underrepresented groups. There are many ways to join Humberside Police, such as the PEQF route which includes the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA).

Anyone interested in applying to Humberside can search ‘Join the Police’ to find out more, or visit our Join Us page.