Thirty-seven recently qualified police officers will join Community Policing Teams next week to help ensure we maintain a visible presence across the county.
The officers will be split between Swindon and Wiltshire and will be a welcome addition to the Force, providing vital reassurance to our communities at a period of uncertainty for the nation.
They will work under the guidance of experienced police tutors within their community teams for 12 weeks before gaining their independent status.
The group of officers were due to graduate on April 3 – however, this has been brought forward as they have completed their exams and are fully equipped to support our communities.
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said: “I am delighted that we have been able to bring the date forward for these officers to be deployed within our community policing teams and provide support where it is most needed.
“These are unprecedented times and as a police force, it is crucial that we maintain the business the public expects from us – the role of policing is, and always has been clear. We must continue to deliver a police service that protects the public, prevents crime and keeps you safe.
“I have personally met with these new officers and I can say they will be a fantastic addition to our Force – they are dedicated and community spirited and will help us help you during these difficult times.
“These 37 newly qualified officers were part of a group of 57 new recruits – we are now exploring options which might enable the next 20 to join our CPTs as soon as possible. We are training more officers than ever before – when we opened police officer recruitment last week, we received 300 applications in just five days – it is really encouraging that so many people want to join the force and support their communities.”
Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon Angus Macpherson added: “I really welcome this news and I hope the public too find it reassuring that from Monday, we will have an extra 37 police officers across the county.
“The Government’s promise of 20,000 additional police officers is set to fund 148 new officers in Wiltshire over the next three years – in addition to numbers already planned to replace leavers – bringing the expected number of serving officers to 1,050 by March 2024.
“We are currently experiencing unprecedented times but I am pleased that the Chief Constable has made this move to ensure we are well resourced and providing our communities with the reassurance they require.
“It is vital now, more than ever, that as a community we are all looking out for each other throughout this critical time.”
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