Police Officers Must Reflect Communities They Serve

POLICING must reflect the diverse communities it serves, says South Yorkshire Police Federation after a national newspaper claimed the service is ‘dumbing down’ its entry requirements.

The Mail on Sunday claimed forces across the country are set to ditch fast track graduate schemes and on-the-job police degrees to focus on attracting traditional ‘blue-collar’ recruits.

The newspaper said the service is struggling to find enough potential new officers to fulfil the Government’s pledge to put 20,000 officers back on the beat.

The College of Policing has rebuffed the article.

And South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said policing has to mirror its communities.

He said: “We police our society, and it should be reflective of that.

“I didn’t have a degree. I chose not to take a degree before going to the police even though I could have done.

“I would argue that skills that people learn in frontline employment as opposed to university can be just as valuable in preparing you for life as a police officer.

“So, I’m firmly against there being a mandatory degree requirement to join the police because that’s not what we’re about. Yes, we should encourage officers with a degree, of course, but we need to have a mixture.”

Pay and conditions may well put off university graduates from applying to be officers anyway, Steve said, especially given how much debt they have when they finish their degrees.

He explained: “I think the service is going to have to revisit this anyway because with the pay as it is, it’s not necessarily an attractive job for people coming out of university with £20-£30,000 worth of debt.

“We’re going to have to look at it one way or another to get those people through the door. I’m involved in some of the candidate interviews they’re sending, and some of the best people I’ve spoken to haven’t got degrees.

“It’s about life experience – a fast food restaurant worker will have dealt with overnight disorder, customer complaints. Skills like that are probably as good as any for people coming into the policing world.”