All were guests of Home Secretary Suella Braverman MP, who welcomed them to Downing Street to congratulate Lancashire Police on exceeding the uplift target, whilst also replacing all the retiring officers. She also praised Lancashire officers for their public service and the vital work they do every day to protect communities.
Since 2019, more than 20,000 extra police officers have been recruited in England and Wales, including 612 officers in Lancashire, exceeding its target of 509 additional officers set by the government.
Many have now completed their training, with others on their way towards becoming fully-fledged officers.
The new recruits take the police officer headcount to 3,587, who serve the 1.5 million people living in the diverse communities of Lancashire.
Andrew Snowden, Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire said: ” This was a fantastic occasion to celebrate the huge effort by the force to recruit over 600 new officers and replace all retiring officers. From outreach, recruitment, training, equipment, and kit, I want to thank the constabulary for all their work in getting us to this point, with teams from HR to vetting to the training school and numerous others.
“It’s an exciting time for policing in Lancashire as more and more officers gain the knowledge and experience to make a real difference in the fight against crime across the county, with visible, community focused policing making people and the communities they live and work in safer.
“I continue to meet more new recruits when out with officers on the beat and seeing the difference they are already starting to make, with the bolstering of neighbourhood teams and more proactive policing capability already being put into our communities, there really will be no place to hide for criminals who operate here in Lancashire.
“It’s through these new recruits and my close work with the Chief Constable that we will see the best possible use of additional resources coming into Lancashire, getting tough on anti-social behaviour through Op Centurion, using Op Warrior to disrupt criminal gangs and delivering on the other key priorities in my Fighting Crime Plan.”
Chief Constable Chris Rowley said: “This event was a great occasion which recognised the hard work of numerous departments to surpass uplift targets. We have been overwhelmed by the number of applicants from all communities across Lancashire and further afield. This means that we have more officers for the front line on response and neighbourhood teams, as well as crime investigation and roads policing teams. This will offer our officers and staff the ability to be in the right place at the right time making Lancashire a hostile place for criminals.”
Recruitment will continue through 2023/24 with a variety of entry routes available to join Lancashire Constabulary.
