Staffordshire Police Federation secretary Glyn Pattinson has welcomed an uplift of 72 officers to the Force in the first year of the Government’s high-profile recruitment campaign.
The figures released by the Home Office show there were 1,720 officers in Staffordshire Police as at 31 December, up from 1,648.
“It’s encouraging to see we’ve recruited an uplift in the number of officers on the Force, and we welcome them all and wish them well,” said Glyn.
“This is a positive start to the recruitment campaign and the key is to ensure that, after years of cuts to policing, we retain them and our experienced colleagues too.
“At a time of unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic, the Force’s successful recruitment campaign is particularly welcome.”
The latest Home Office figures revealed that since April 2020, almost 60 per cent of new recruits to Staffordshire Police have been female and 12.5 per cent who stated their ethnicity were from Black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic groups.
Glyn said: “It’s pleasing to see the Force is recruiting from across our communities – it’s vital we have a diverse police service that reflects the people we serve.”
Nationally, the Home Office figures show there were 135,248 officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales as at 31 December 2020 – an increase of 6,814 officers.
Federation national chair John Apter said: “With demands on police officers increasing and the continuing challenge policing the pandemic, it’s good to see the number of new recruits increasing.
“There simply aren’t enough officers at this time and the pandemic has shown just how fragile the resilience of the police service is as more and more officers report sick or self-isolate.”
He added: “We need to ensure there’s a consistent long-term recruitment programme and that everything possible is done not just to recruit, but also to retain those who join.
“We also need to see ensure that we don’t drive down the average age of recruits and continue to attract people with life experience. In addition, we need to use this recruitment drive to ensure a diverse police service, so that forces fully reflect the communities they serve.”
