Policing should welcome a wider range of recruits

10 November 2022

Policing should welcome a wider range of recruits, Kent Police Federation has said, as the Home Secretary calls for a new non-degree entry into the job.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said yesterday that she had asked the College of Policing to develop options for a non-degree route into policing, saying: “There’s a need for more flexibility to ensure broad access to a policing career.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has long pushed for a return to non-degree training for police officers, and earlier this month 16 Police and Crime Commissioners wrote to the Home Secretary. They argued that recruits from the military, Special Constables and older career-changers were being put off from joining, at a time when forces in England and Wales need to recruit an extra 20,000 officers.

Kent Police Federation Chair Neil Mennie welcomed the Home Secretary’s announcement and told Radio Kent this morning: “The Federation, a lot of senior officers – even if they haven’t been saying it out loud – and now Police and Crime Commissioners believe that policing needs to be a broad church. We want to welcome those with and without degrees into what is a fantastic career. 

“We need to make sure that we open the doors as wide as we possibly can and welcome people in with all sorts of skillsets and abilities who will ultimately make good officers irrespective of their academic level.”

Neil said that officers already underwent “very rigorous” training that prepared them for the challenges of the job.

He said: “There are certain strands and pathways through the police where being academic could be useful, but even getting through the recruitment stage and into the job is a very rigorous process.

“And then the probationary period is a two-year, very intense period of training – ultimately, it’s an achievement to get through that as well. For me, it’s always been about the training and the practical abilities of officers and welcoming everybody. 

“The police also represents an excellent opportunity for people to diversify. We want to get lots of people in whothen want to stay and have a long and fulfilling career with us.”