151 additional officers set for Essex streets this year

11 March 2020

Essex Police force ranks are set to swell by an additional 151 officers this year.

The recruits will mean nearly 600 officers will have been sworn into the role over the past three years, representing ‘welcome’ growth according to Essex Police Federation.

The extra officers are part of the Government’s promised 20,000 increase in police numbers in England and Wales.

Essex Police Federation Chairman said the extra bodies are urgently needed, but that patience must be shown as they are trained and start learning the job.

“We welcome the growth. It’s urgently needed and very much appreciated,” he said.

“With that growth and with the funds that have been secured to make that happen, we just require a bit of patience and a bit of expectation management.

“We cannot just pick another bobby off the tree. They need to be trained properly. The standards need to be maintained. We don’t need to rush to get bums on seats.”

An increase in infrastructure and back-office needs run in parallel with new frontline officers, Steve said.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into that. A lot of it is behind the scenes, and a lot of it requires investment in non-frontline function.

“We need better and bigger and more capable vetting facilities. We need more uniform stores. We need more trainers. We need a lot of extra things to support that frontline because otherwise, it falls over and standards slip, and we all suffer.

“We need that holistic approach to growth, not just bums on seats frontline.”

The public too need to be patient and realise it takes time for new officers to get up to speed and get the experience they need under their belts.

“When a member of the public looks at one of our officers in uniform, they don’t see they’ve got just three months in,” he said.

“They see an officer, and they expect a certain level of service from that officer – we have to do what we can to mitigate and manage that.”