It is hoped that the campaign to recruit police constables will attract individuals from a range of backgrounds, age and experience.

The campaign is part of the national Uplift scheme and already an extra 56 student police officers have been recruited during the first three months of 2022.

This is set to be boosted with a further 140 student officers expected to join by 31 March 2023.

In 2019 the Government announced plans to recruit an extra 20,000 officers over three years and by the end of March 2022 a total of 13,576 additional officers have been recruited by police forces across England and Wales, which is above the target set for the first two years of Uplift of 12,000 additional officers.

Dorset Police has recruited officers by a variety of entry routes: the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship, Degree Holder Entry Programme, Detective Degree Holder Entry Programme, as well as a number of officers re-joining the service and transferring to Dorset from other forces.

Assistant chief officer Jo Mosley, director of People and Support Services, said: “Despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dorset Police has worked hard to recruit its share of the 20,000 extra officers promised nationally by the Government and funded through the Uplift programme.

“I am delighted that we have welcomed people from across Dorset and from a range of diverse backgrounds. I hope that this will help make our police family more representative of the communities we serve.

“These much-needed extra officers are great news for our communities and will bring a welcome relief to our stretched workforce.

“During the third and final year of Uplift, the focus will be on increasing our frontline resources, as well as boosting our specialist teams such as neighbourhood policing and investigation capability, to help make Dorset a safe county for everyone and continue with our relentless pursuit of criminals.”

PC Paul Miners, who joined Dorset Police via the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship, said: “I have always wanted to be a police officer and feel proud to wear the uniform and try to make a positive difference to the community I serve.

“Each and every day of my service has been different. I have had great days and days that have been challenging and left me feeling overwhelmed. However, I am part of a great team who all look out for each other. No matter what my day has been like I always know I have colleagues who are there for me. I feel very lucky to do the job I do.

“When I joined Dorset Police, I instantly felt part of a family and this feeling gave me the strength to believe I was capable of tackling anything I was met with.

“My journey in Dorset Police is still relatively new, but I can’t imagine doing anything else. I will always be proud of what I do and who I work for.”

Could you be one of these new recruits? Recruitment is open until midnight on Thursday 21 July 2022. To find out more about the benefits of a career in the police and to submit your application, please visit: https://recruitment-dcp-dp.org/dorset-your-police-career/police-officers/.