North Yorkshire Police Exceeds Officer Uplift Target

Over 450 new police officers have joined North Yorkshire Police since July 2019 as the force is on track to exceed the Uplift programme recruitment target set by the Home Office by more than 55 officers.

In July 2019, the government announced plans to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by the end of March 2023.

Each police force was given a target based on current workforce and local population.

Since then, North Yorkshire Police has implemented a number of successful recruitment campaigns and entry routes to the force, boosting the county’s operational teams with 457 student officers and 209 transferees from other forces.

• North Yorkshire Police had 1450 officers in 2020
• The force hit its uplift target of 194 officers (out of the 20,000 national target) by 1 September 2022.
• By March 2023, North Yorkshire Police is expected to exceed this target with an additional 40-45 officers. This would mean around 1,680 officers in total.

In September 2019, the force launched the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) programme in partnership with the Open University which leads to a nationally recognised BSc (Hons) in Professional Policing Practice. New recruits join North Yorkshire Police and spend 80 per cent of their time serving while learning on the job and 20 per cent of their work time studying towards their qualification.

12 cohorts of officers have now been through the programme since its launch and recruitment will open again later in 2023.

The force has also seen success with its Degree Holders Entry Programme (DHEP), a two-year accelerated route for those entering with a degree in any subject. DHEP allows recruits to train as a police constable and gain a Graduate Diploma in policing through the Open University.

In late 2022, North Yorkshire Police launched the DHEP Accelerated Detective Pathway (DHEP ADP) which is a fast-track process for those with transferable skills, knowledge and experience to become a detective. The DHEP ADP is designed for applicants who already have an existing degree. Recruits train while working to achieve a Graduate Diploma in Policing before undertaking the National Investigators Exam and Detective Training Course in order to achieve accredited Detective status.

North Yorkshire Police Deputy Chief Constable, Mabs Hussain, said:

“North Yorkshire Police is a great place to work and we’re incredibly proud of each and every one of our officers who are committed to protecting our communities 24/7. Policing is a career which has a lot to offer and by implementing a number of entry routes, we want to make sure it is open to anyone who has the aptitude and passion for delivering the highest quality service to our public.

“Our partnership with the Open University has not only enabled us to strengthen the opportunities we offer recruits, but it also meant studying and training could continue through the pandemic, when traditional routes were simply not an option.

“The success of our recruitment campaigns over the last few years has been a real team effort and is down to the hard work of everyone across the force who all have a role to play in supporting our new recruits and transferees.

“We’re continuing to recruit throughout 2023 with vacancies on our PCDA and DHEP programmes as well as for transferees and a number of police staff roles available in our Force Control Room.

“North Yorkshire is a fantastic place to live and work and also a place where everyone is truly welcome.”

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe said:  

“I’m so pleased that North Yorkshire Police is on track to exceed its uplift target set by the Home Office and that the efforts put into recruitment campaigns and partnership working is proving successful.  

“I know that police visibility and presence in communities is important to the public and so to be able to say that the Force has the largest number of officers they have had in a decade makes me incredibly proud – but, I am determined that these numbers will be used to invest in neighbourhood policing and be more present and more proactive in preventing crime and solving problems in communities.”

Current North Yorkshire police vacancies can be seen at https://northyorkshirepolice.engageats.co.uk/LoginV2.aspx