Eight applicants for every officer vacancy in force

MORE than 3,000 people have applied for 369 new police officer jobs in South Yorkshire – around eight applicants for every vacancy.

The force is recruiting new officers to replace those who are retiring over the next three years.

Candidates will face interviews, as well as fitness and medical tests, in what Chief Constable David Crompton has described as a “tough” application process.

“This is because we are looking for the best possible police officers who can really make a positive difference to people’s lives across South Yorkshire,” said Mr Crompton.

Neil Bowles, Chairman of the South Yorkshire Police Federation, said that with violent crime on the rise, the force needs the numbers to “keep the streets safe”.

He noted that policing, like the society it is drawn from, is “continually changing”, as are the demands of policing. “Society now has a generation that have smartphones practically surgically implanted to the hand,” he said. “It follows that crime has followed and become hi-tech.”

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings said new recruits were aware that some past practice within the force had been “poor” and are “keen to make a difference and improve the standard of policing”.

“Every recruitment brings a fresh cohort of officers determined to do well for the public of South Yorkshire,” he said. “They know that the future reputation of the force will be determined by them and their contemporaries.”

Dr Billings said he was “encouraged” by the attitudes of those in the force today.

“There is a realisation that, whilst the past has to be acknowledged and lessons learnt, it must not be allowed to overwhelm morale today, but restoring confidence in the force is a matter of steady good practice,” he said.