New statistics show that nearly 6,000 extra officers have been recruited in the first year of the Government’s major police recruitment drive, with 141 more for Devon and Cornwall. Of the 42 police forces in the country, only 9 forces recruited more officers in the past year. The new recruits take the total number of police officers serving in our force to 3,273.
The success of the recruitment drive so far means that Government is on track to meet its manifesto commitment of recruiting 20,000 extra officers by 2023 and is ahead of schedule to have the first 6,000 in place by March 2021. The new statistics also show that the police workforce is now more diverse than ever before, with 10.7% of new recruits identifying as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and with 9,842 of all officers now being from these groups.
Welcoming the figures Central Devon MP Mel Stride said:
“While crime is now a third lower than it was a decade ago, the police are involved in investigating and tackling more complex crimes such as cybercrime, sexual offences, county lines drug trafficking and counter-terrorism. They need the resources and manpower to do their jobs effectively and in rural counties like Devon, more officers will help the force to police the huge amount of ground it has to cover.”
This year police funding has been boosted by £1.1 billion – the biggest funding increase in a decade, including £150 million to fight organised crime and online child abuse, £39 million to tackle serious violence including county lines drug dealing, and £90 million for counter-terrorism policing. The Government is also boosting police pay by 2.5%, equivalent to a constable receiving an extra £1,100.
Photo: Mel pictured at a previous meeting with Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez.