50 new officers swell Nottinghamshire Police force’s ranks after passing out
MORE than 50 new police have swelled the ranks of Nottinghamshire Police after passing out on Friday.
They were inspected by chief constable Craig Guildford, deputy chief constable Rachel Barber and assistant chief constable Kate Meynell.
Over the coming weeks, the new officers will be deployed across the county, where they will undertake a range of duties in their new roles alongside their tutor officers.
The arrival of the new officers has increased the number at the force to 2,022, a number that the chief constable had targeted since his arrival in February 2017.
“I’m led to believe that this is the biggest passing out parade we have had in some time and it was brilliant to have more than 200 people in attendance to witness a very special and a very memorable moment for my new colleagues,” Mr Guildford said.
Nottinghamshire police and crime commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “We are continuing to increase our front-line strength and build up our neighbourhood policing presence to tackle more local problems and improve services.
“2018 has been a very busy year for police recruitment and we will be marking the passing out of a further cohort in the near future.
“We also have two groups preparing to embark on initial training later this year.
“I’m very proud of the hard work of all our new recruits over the past 18 weeks and would like to thank them for their ongoing passion and enthusiasm.
“Nottinghamshire can look forward to a wealth of talent on its streets in the future and I wish all our new officers the very best of luck with their future careers.”
One of the new officers, Pc Ryan Shiel, who will be covering the Newark patch as part of the road policing team, said: “I had visited Nottinghamshire a few times in the past and saw how lovely the countryside looked and loved the rural areas.
“It was a massive attraction to the department I want to be in, roads policing, getting to work on some high priority roads such as the A46 and A1.
“Compared to where I come from the crime here tends to be more serious so I knew it would be an exciting position.
“I was previously working in a car manufacturing factory, building 500 a cars a shift, doing literally the same six tasks for eight hours a day, I knew I needed to take a step to achieve the job I always wanted to do.
“I’m looking forward to the traffic jobs. I enjoy roads policing so look forward to playing my part in helping decrease drunk drivers and vehicle-related anti-social behaviour.
“I’ve always wanted to be a police officer from a young age and now it is great to finally be in this position.
“My family are constantly telling me how proud they are. They always knew I could achieve my true potential and here I am working towards it.”
There are concerns the Newark area is under-policed. Recorded crime is at its highest for nearly a decade.
Newark MP Robert Jenrick is meeting Mr Tipping and Mr Guildford in November to discuss the issue and seek assurances Newark will get its fair share from the recruitment drive.
Jerry Hague, the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Sherwood, said similar concerns existed in Sherwood.
“I have spoken to thousands of residents in Sherwood and throughout the area there is a concern about levels of crime, particularly drug dealing and anti-social behaviour, and the lack of visibility of policing,” he said.
“I have raised these concerns with Paddy Tipping and there is no doubt that the PCC and the police force are working extremely hard to deal with these issues in Sherwood.”
