Trainee detectives complete initial training with Nottinghamshire Police

Nottinghamshire Police’s newest batch of trainee detectives have moved one step closer to the job as they competed their initial period of fast-track training.

The force, keen to increase its numbers of detectives, has taken steps to reduce the amount of time it takes for recruits to apply and qualify for vital investigative roles.

It introduced its Fast Track To Detective scheme to allow talented individuals who have developed themselves in the organisation a direct route into the police service.

And its latest batch of 21 new recruits passed out at a ceremony on Wednesday (June 1).

The cohort includes former PCSOs, control room operators and police staff investigators, with many completing the force’s graduate investigator programme before enrolling onto the Fast Track To Detective scheme.

The recruits, who would traditionally have had to serve two years in uniformed response roles before applying to become a detective, have just completed an expedited nine-week basic training course before their next three months in response or neighbourhood roles to gain valuable experience.

After that, they will be posted to one of the force’s specialised investigation departments where they will help to investigate incidents like serious assaults, burglaries, robberies, fraud, drugs and sexual offences.

Once they have completed all the relevant national exams and proven themselves in a range of investigations they will qualify as full-time police detectives.

The cohort includes former police staff investigator Hannah Lees.

The 28-year-old said: “It was always the plan. As a police staff investigator I was involved in investigating thefts, road traffic collisions, assaults and stalking. I enjoyed that but I prefer more complex investigations.

“My aim is to go and work in major crime. I think I’d get a lot of satisfaction in getting justice for victims of the most serious crimes.”

John Woodward, also a former civilian investigator, is equally looking forward to becoming a detective and is set to join the force’s fraud and cybercrime unit.

The 29-year-old said: “Before I joined Notts Police I worked in IT and I want to use that broader knowledge of the digital world to help protect people from cybercrime, as it’s something that’s ever evolving.

“There are a lot of scams online and I want to play a part in doing something about it.”

Core trainer Tim Jones, himself a retired detective inspector, said the trainee detectives were going into one of the best jobs in policing.

He said: “I firmly believe that it a fantastic job in that you get to investigate some really serious and fascinating crimes and work with some really inspirational people.

“Above all you get the immense satisfaction of locking criminals up for a long time. I’m therefore delighted to be welcoming more recruits into this uniquely challenging and rewarding career and am looking forward to seeing how their careers develop.”

The cohort passed out in a ceremony at the force’s Arnold headquarters, attended by proud family members.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford said he was delighted to see some familiar faces becoming detectives.

He said: “As a force, we are committed to encouraging the career progression of our staff and this year, the programme has been an excellent opportunity for police staff who have gained investigation experience to transition into police officer roles as detectives.

“This is invaluable to our force and our communities as we retain and develop the skills of people from our diverse workforce into key areas such as Public Protection, burglary, robbery and fraud.

“The interest in this has been high and I am delighted the project has delivered another batch of extremely promising detectives.

“Clearly this is good news for our local communities and very bad news for criminals.”

Nottinghamshire Police now delivers several different entry routes for candidates of varying ages with and without university degrees. This includes a three-year degree apprenticeship programme in which recruits manage their studies alongside working as a police officer.