Could you be patrolling the beat as one of West Yorkshire’s newest police officers?
West Yorkshire police is once again opening recruitment for police officers.
Earlier this year the force announced it is aiming to recruit around 300 new police officers in the next year, and is particularly keen to receive applications from people from diverse groups.
Back in June there were a total of 658 applicants and out of those 27 per cent applied were from diverse groups and backgrounds.
The recruitment comes amid a national backdrop within which Prime Minister Theresa May warned all police forces in the country that diversity was not “optional”.
Figures from police.uk show that as of March this year some 94.8% of police officers in West Yorkshire Police were white.
Now, to help potential applicants with any questions, the force is hosting a series of web chats to give more details about the recruitment process.
Assistant Chief Constable Andy Battle said: “We had a staggering response to the last recruitment drive at West Yorkshire Police in June this year with nearly 700 people applying to become police constables. We are seeking the very best to join our ranks and we have been extremely pleased with the high standard of applications we have received so far and are very much looking forward to the latest round and meeting the next cohort of men and women looking to join West Yorkshire Police.
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“A career in policing is really like no other; this is an fantastic opportunity for anyone considering a role in the police force to apply and see what it’s all about.”
West Yorkshire Police has introduced a new Positive Action Co-ordinator role to promote the police service as a career option to diverse groups and communities.
As part of his role, Pc Amjad Ditta is holding workshops to offer advice and assist people with the application process.
ACC Battle added: “The scale of this recruitment offers a real opportunity to increase the diversity of our workforce and I would strongly encourage anyone from an under-represented group who is interested in a career in policing to make use of the positive action workshops that we are running and apply to join the force.”
West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson said “I was pleased to be able to set a budget to enable the recruitment of hundreds more police officers back in February this year. Some of those officers have already finished training and are out in our communities helping to keep us safe and feeling safer.”
Police officer recruitment is open until Sunday September 23. The application form will be available on the West Yorkshire Police website at: www.westyorkshire.police.uk/joinus . Outside of the recruitment windows, those interested in applying to joining as a police officer can register their interest which means they will be notified when future recruitment windows open.
