Nottinghamshire Police numbers now at their highest in more than a decade

The force reached 2,380 officers by March 2022 – meaning it met its Uplift target a year early.

The ranks have not been this high since March 2011 when there were 2,362 officers serving the county.

The influx continued this month when the force welcomed 20 new officers during a passing out parade at its headquarters, following an 18-week long training programme.

The officers have completed a mix of classroom training and operational attachments.

Over the coming weeks, the new recruits will be deployed across the county, where they will undertake a range of duties in their new front line roles.

Kit Malthouse, policing minister, hailed it as a ‘cracking performance by a force at the top of its game’.

He said: “I’m delighted to see Nottinghamshire Police recruit their share of the 20,000 new officers so far ahead of schedule and I salute the commitment of all the new recruits, from so many varied backgrounds, who have stepped forward to join with such enthusiasm.”

While undertaking this huge increase of officers, the force has continued to drive down crime, with rates still below those recorded in 2019, pre-Covid.

The reduction continues as a result of the work done to bolster neighbourhoods and specialist teams.

The force has uplifted all of its 12 dedicated Operation Reacher teams – including in Mansfield and Ashfield – and knife crime teams, which have continued to make a big difference.

The force said Operation Uplift has also seen it make great strides in becoming more representative of the community it serves, with the Home Office commending Nottinghamshire Police after figures revealed the force had recruited a greater proportion of officers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds than any other force in England and Wales.

Furthermore, the force now has more female officers than ever before and a total of 35 per cent of police officers in Nottinghamshire are now women.

‘Incredible’

Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “An incredible amount of work has gone into smashing the target throughout Covid and I would like to place on record my thanks to everyone who has made this possible.

“We have offered the national Uplift team and other forces our learning from this great local work.

“We’ve achieved a really ambitious target a year ahead of schedule and we’ve got another exciting recruitment programme coming up this year as well. I’d urge anyone interested in a career in policing to keep an eye on our recruitment opportunities as there are plenty coming up.”

Caroline Henry, Nottinghamshire police and crime commissioner, said: “In Nottinghamshire, we have been really proactive in attracting the brightest and the best talent to join our amazing police force.

“I’m delighted we’ve cracked on and achieved our uplift target a year early.

“This is an exceptional achievement and I’d like to thank all the fantastic people involved for their hard work in making this happen.

“Not only do we have more police officers than we’ve had in over a decade, we’ve also got a workforce that is more diverse and more representative of Nottinghamshire.

“Our new cohorts will make a huge difference and people will be safer.”