The largest cohort ever recruited onto Police Now’s National Detective Programme was attested at its training academy this morning (Monday 18^th March) – and includes its very first Counter Terrorism Policing stream.

The 229 trainee detective constables will spend 13-weeks at the residential academy, learning core policing and investigative skills before sitting the challenging National Investigators’ Exam. They will then be deployed into their respective forces across England and Wales to continue the two-year training programme, where they will gain frontline experience and work in Criminal Investigation Departments to support victims of crime and work on complex cases.

Addressing the new recruits on their first day, Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said:

“The public rightly expects and deserves a consistent high-quality police service, with credible, competent detectives to see investigations through. I am heartened by the number of talented individuals with good values in this room, who have chosen to join policing to deliver just that.

“As you embark on your policing journey, I encourage you to always act with courage and compassion. To always act in ways of which you can be proud.

“Courage may mean dealing with a dangerous situation, but it also means having the courage to call out anything that is not right. To be an upstander, not a bystander. And you will be rewarded, recognised and valued for having courage in those times.

“The difference and diversity in this room is an asset to you all, take the opportunity to draw on the strength of those around you as you embark on this incredibly exciting journey. Well done on getting here, and I wish you all the very best of luck.”

75 of these new recruits will go on to train in Counter Terrorism Policing within the Metropolitan Police Service during the second year of Police Now’s detective programme, learning how to protect the UK from serious harm and threat by preventing, deterring, and investigating terrorist activity – alongside their experienced colleagues.

A Times Top 100 Graduate Employer, Police Now has partnered with 36 police forces across England and Wales since it was founded, recruiting over 3,000 officers into the service via its national programmes. The number of officers joining Police Now’s partner forces for this intake on the National Detective Programme are:

Devon and Cornwall Police – 20
Gwent Police – 16
Hertfordshire Constabulary – 22
Humberside Police – 20
The Metropolitan Police Service, Counter Terrorism Policing – 75
Staffordshire Police – 39
Thames Valley Police – 12
West Mercia Police – 13
Wiltshire Police – 12

Police Now typically attracts those who hadn’t previously considered a career in policing and consistently recruits more women and more officers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds than the policing national average – bringing much needed diversity and difference into the service.

Of those on this cohort of the National Detective Programme, 67% identify as female, 15% are from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background, and 71% had never considered a career in policing before hearing about Police Now.