Nearly half of new West Midlands Police officers women
The student officers are part of the 20,000 extra police officers that the Government promised to recruit nationally by 2023
Last updated 28th Oct 2021
A total of 867 additional police officers have now been recruited in the West Midlands, with almost half of new recruits being women.
The student officers are part of the 20,000 extra police officers that the Government promised to recruit nationally by 2023.
In total an extra 11,053 officers have been hired across England and Wales as part of the Police Uplift Programme to help bring crime down and keep neighbourhoods safer, meaning that the Government is now over half-way to meeting its recruitment target.
In the West Midlands, 42.3 per cent of new recruits are women and 19.5 per cent of the student officers are from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Nationally the recruitment uplift has seen more women joining the ranks to tackle criminals and protect the public from harm between July and September 2021 – with female officers accounting for 45% (1,451) of all new joiners during that time.
There’s also more Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic officers employed nationally across forces than at any other time in the country’s history, now making up 7.9% (10,690) of all officers.
Sir David Thompson, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police said: “We are all really proud to serve such a diverse and vibrant population. We need a workforce that is representative of our diverse communities so that we can continue to deliver the most effective public service. We are working hard to achieve that vision.”
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said: “I am very pleased that West Midlands Police is ahead of target on recruitment. These officers will contribute towards my pledge of rebuilding community policing.
“These 867 officers are just over a third of the 2,221 lost since 2010. I am continuing to press for the funding necessary to return all officers lost over the last decade.”