PCC welcomes news target to increase police officer numbers met

Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has welcomed the news that Wiltshire Police has met the Government’s Uplift target to recruit 20,000 extra police officers across the country.

Government set a Wiltshire Police target of an additional 164 police officers over and above normal recruitment to replace officers who leave or retire, with an overall net goal of 1,189 serving police officers before 31 March 2023. 

As a result of intensive recruitment over the last three years, this target has been exceeded by seven, with 1,196 serving officers at the target date. 

Philip Wilkinson, Wiltshire’s PCC, said: “Visible, proactive, policing makes people feel safer and Wiltshire’s residents have told me they want more police officers in frontline community roles. 

“Wiltshire now has its highest number of police officers since 2010 and we are starting to see those vital community-based police officers being achieved through key investment from the police precept and the Uplift programme.

“Once fully trained, these extra officers will enable Wiltshire Police to provide more stability in its neighbourhood teams and this, alongside a newly introduced command structure so local inspectors can target resources to deal with any community issues as they arise, will deliver the tangible change asked for by communities.

“Both the Chief Constable and I remain committed to delivering a quality policing service, which meets the needs of its communities, tackles the crimes which matter and is able to deliver justice and provide support for people when they are at their most vulnerable.”

Taking normal recruitment and the additional numbers through the Uplift programme into account, Wiltshire has recruited 459 police officers since the programme began, comprising 412 new starters and officers re-joining and 47 officers transferring from other forces. 

Wiltshire’s police officer gender balance continues to improve and today stands at 733 male (61%) and 463 female (39%) and ethnic minority police officer numbers have doubled from 20 to 40 since 2019.

Since January alone, 85 student officers have begun training, including 18joining this week who swore their oath of allegiance in front of a magistrate at their attestation ceremony earlier this week.

To maintain overall officer numbers at 1,189, the Force is looking to bring in another 160 officers over the next 12 months.  Fortunately, interest in joining the police remains high with more than 3,200police officer applicants in Wiltshire in the last five years.   

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: “This is a much-needed boost for Wiltshire. These additional officers will play a key role in delivering the more visible police service that the public want to see from their community policing teams.  

“It has been a massive team effort to achieve these recruitment numbers and I am grateful to everyone who has helped us achieve that goal, and to every individual who has stepped forward to dedicate themselves to a career in public service.

“To maintain police officer numbers we need more people who may not have thought about a career in policing before to contact us to discuss the opportunities. Policing is a fantastically diverse career; you can really make a positive difference to your local community.

“All new recruits receive a first-class, fully funded training package leading to a degree level qualification, plus great opportunities to specialise in roles such as CID, roads policing and firearms.”

Anyone interested in applying to join the Force onwards can register their interest on the Wiltshire Police website www.wiltshire.police.uk/careers 

Published Friday 31 March 2023