Yorkshire police forces to recruit 800 new officers by 2019

Humberside Police says it will bring in another 300 officers in the next four years, while South Yorkshire Police will recruit a further 500 officers in the same period.

It comes after neighbouring North Yorkshire Police revealed last month that it was to start recruiting again, increasing its manpower from 1,343 to 1,400 officers.

The extra officers mean Humberside Police will be able to keep its current level of 1,500 officers by recruiting around 100 a year, starting with a wave of recruitment next month.

It is the force’s first recruitment campaign in eight years, with previous intakes of Police Constables coming from the existing ranks of Special Conastables and Police Community Support Officers.

South Yorkshire Police, which revealed last month that it would be cutting 55 officer and 214 support staff roles by April 2017 to help plug a £10.5m budget black hole, has not revealed what impact the extra officers will have on its manpower in the long-term.

Up until November, police forces nationwide had been expecting to have their budgets cut by as much as 40 per cent by the Chancellor.

But Mr Osborne’s pledge to “protect” police funding meant only small savings would have to be made if forces raised their share of council tax by two per cent.

Humberside Police Chief Constable Justine Curran said: “It’s been a while since we recruited new officers and the vacancies we have, and expect to have, are a result of natural turnover and officers coming to the end of their service.

“This is a good time to join us, policing is changing at a fast pace with officers now able to spend more time out and about, using mobile technology to keep updated. Crime is also changing with the new challenges around cyber crime and fraud.

“However, what makes a good officer remains the same, people who think on their feet, take control, can make decisions and are able to communicate easily with everyone they come into contact with.”

Recruitment begins in March and the formal process will be open for initial registration on March 1 at 9.30am and close on March 3 at 11.39pm.

Police and crime commissioner Matthew Grove said: “The recent restructure of Humberside Police combined with the announcement from the Chancellor in December to protect police budgets, has allowed us to review our staffing plans and further protect frontline policing.

“These new intakes of 100 officers per year will enable us to maintain the number of officers in Humberside Police at around 1,500 until 2020, this is a very positive step to protect the residents of Northern Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire and good news for anyone who wants to pursue a career in policing.”

Humberside Police and South Yorkshire Police have been sharing back office services for several years, but are in the process of creating a joint specialist operations hub for its firearms, dogs and public order officers to save money.

This involves the two forces sharing the support structure for their specialist officers, though the officers themselves would remain in their respective areas.