A family affair

9 September 2021

When Amelia Asquith attended her attestation ceremony today after joining the Force in a ground-breaking initiative there was one person taking a special interest from the back of the room.

Amelia is the daughter of Superintendent Phil Asquith who attended the attestation to proudly watch her follow in his footsteps.

Also in attendance was Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, who explained: “This particular group of new recruits are the Force’s first ever intake of Detective Degree Holder Entrance Programme (DHEP) students and it was particularly nice to see Supt Asquith watching Amelia start her career with West Midlands Police.

“The difference with these students is that after their first year they will specialise in investigations and work towards becoming accredited detectives. The Force has recognised the shortage of detectives and has tried other methods to increase numbers with internal initiatives.

“But, aware of the pressure the shortage is putting on officers within Investigations and PPU, the Force decided to try this DHEP scheme to bring in external people.”

The Federation will be featuring articles about these new recruits in forthcoming articles so look out for updates on how they are progressing.