Thames Valley Police 'working hard' to hire more officers

Thames Valley Police (TVP) says it is ‘working hard’ to attract new recruits after the Government tasked it with hiring hundreds of new officers.

The National Police Uplift Programme aims to put more police officers on the beat with a target to recruit 20,000 new people across England and Wales by March 2023.

TVP said in a statement that it has recruited 229 officers towards the uplift target, but it stressed that the recruitment market is ‘challenging’ as the country emerges from the pandemic.

A spokesman added: “The programme presents a fantastic opportunity to increase the number of police officers across the Thames Valley. It will see us recruit an additional 598 officers by March 2023 who will significantly enhance our ability to prevent harm [and] investigate crime.

“As we emerge from the pandemic the recruitment market nationally is buoyant and therefore challenging from a recruiters perspective.

"We are working hard to attract sufficient recruits to meet our 2021/22 targets and currently have over 1,650 applicants at various stages of the recruitment process.

"However we need to carefully forecast and monitor turnover as well as recruitment success in order to maintain our progress towards achieving this target.

“We are confident that we have robust plans in place to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by the Police Uplift Programme.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are putting more police on our streets to keep our communities safe and the Government is on track to deliver its commitment to recruit 20,000 additional officers by March 2023. Over 11,000 additional officers are already recruited across England and Wales.

“As of December 31, 2021, TVP has recruited 229 additional officers, which is over half of their allocation.

"Our Beating Crime Plan will give the police the powers and tools they need to stop crimes happening in the first place and keep serious offenders in prison for longer.”