More police officers for Wiltshire, as recruitment drive begins

A new campaign to recruit more police officers in the county has opened this week.

Wiltshire Police is particularly keen for people from underrepresented groups, particularly women and individuals from all ethnic minority backgrounds, to step forward and begin a career in policing.

The campaign coincides with today’s (27 April 2022) Home Office update on the progress police forces are making towards achieving targets set by the Government for an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023.

Wiltshire is reporting a net increase of 160 police officers in the last three years since the Police Uplift Programme began, with 1,152 serving officers in March 2022, compared with 992 in 2019. The Force met and exceeded its Uplift recruitment target for the second year and is on track to achieve its final target by March 2023.

Nationally, an extra 13,576 police officers have been recruited from Uplift funding by March 2022, against a year two target of 12,000. The 20,000-recruitment target - in addition to the normal turnover of officers who retire or leave the service each year - will ease the pressure on policing, help reduce crime, increase visibility, and improve outcomes for victims.

In Wiltshire, the latest figures show a steady increase in the number of female police officers joining the Force, from 34% to 37% in three years. The number of black, Asian and minority ethic officers is also rising, from 20 to 39 over the same period, but there is some way to go before the workforce is representative of the communities it serves.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said:

“We welcome the latest Home Office figures, which show we are ahead of schedule to meet our local quota of the national police uplift in police officer numbers.

“We have just opened for our next round of recruitment and we are encouraging 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 where you can really make a positive difference to your local community and enhance the lives of those that you come into contact with.  

“All new recruits receive a first-class training package leading to a degree level qualification, plus great opportunities in the future to specialise in roles such as CID, roads policing and firearms, to name but a few.

“We always recruit to set a standard but are particularly keen to hear from both women and ethnic minority members of the community who are currently underrepresented within the Force.

“Join us to contribute to your community, help people in need and develop fantastic skills along the way”.

Applications are open until Monday 9 May for training from January 2023 - go to the careers page on the Wiltshre Police website to apply.