More women are being recruited as police officers in Sussex as male dominance in the ranks continues to decline.
Home Office data shows Sussex Police hired 217 new officers in 2020-2021, including 100 women – or 46% of new hires.
While the government says more work needs to be done to make the forces representative, activists say an increase in the number of female officers will help build public confidence in police services.
Female recruits will go a little bit toward gender balance among force police officers.
Separate Home Office figures show 35% of Sussex agents were women in March last year, up from 33% four years earlier.
In the 43 police forces in England and Wales, this proportion rose to 32% last year, from 30% in 2016.
The Home Office said it had used targeted ads and provided support to candidates with the aim of attracting more women for police officer positions.
A spokesperson said: “It is great that more women are deciding to embark on this inspiring career and that more women are also represented in senior positions in the police force.
“We are aware, however, that there is still work to be done, which is why the government continues to work closely with the police force to ensure that their numbers are representative, in terms of gender, of the police force. ethnicity and socio-economic background. ”
Women’s Aid, a charity that supports women victims of violence, said it was pleased with the increase in the number of female officers, adding that the death of Sarah Everard and the subsequent indictment of a police officer on duty for her murder had damaged confidence in the police.
Farah Nazeer, Managing Director, said: “Women make up half of the population so it is good to see the police working at this level of representation.”
She added: “After such a tragic event [the death of Sarah Everard], public confidence in the maintenance of order is diminishing and the increase in the number of female police officers is therefore a means of regaining this confidence.
“The power of the police depends on public approval of their existence, actions and behavior. If the police force is not representative, public approval will be a lesson.”
Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Council of Chiefs of Police, also welcomed the influx of new police recruits.
But he added, “There is still a lot to do to build a workforce that is truly representative of the communities we serve.”
Many of the new recruits have been hired as part of a government pledge to add 20,000 officers to forces in England and Wales by March 2023.
It has achieved the first phase target of 6,000 additional police officers by March of this year.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-05-11 05:00:00
