- Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is calling on the Home Secretary to scrap the need for all new officers to have a degree
- Chris Nelson is one of 16 PCCs who have written to Suella Braverman asking her to be more flexible about the academic requirement
- They want her to change the regulations so that police forces can still use a “traditional” training route as well
- Mr. Nelson said, “There is a danger that in prioritising an academic qualification, we are missing out on potentially good people with equally valid life experience that don’t have a degree”.
Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is calling on the Home Secretary to drop the necessity for all new officers to have degrees.
Chris Nelson is one of 16 PCCs who have signed a letter to Suella Braverman, warning her that the academic requirement means forces are missing potentially good recruits.
They claim that rookie officers are spending so much time studying under the new all-graduate system that up to 10 per cent of their officers are spending more time in the classroom than on the frontline.
They want her to change the regulations to provide more flexibility so that police forces can still use the “traditional” training route under which new recruits are on the street after just 20 weeks’ initial training and are not required to spend so much time studying.
“I don’t want to be restricted by the inflexibility of the recruitment system”
Mr. Nelson said, “As Police and Crime Commissioners, we support efforts to improve the training offered to police officers, staff and volunteers being led by the College of Policing.
“And in a changing world, with many more complex cases and evolving technology, we need learning and development programmes that keep pace.
“However, there is a danger that in prioritising an academic qualification, we are missing out on potentially good people with equally valid life experience. People from the military, officers who have worked as special constables or PCSOs and ethnic minorities and older people without a degree seeking a career change.
“Before I was elected, I made a promise to expand the Constabulary and I don’t want to be restricted by the inflexibility of the recruitment system”.
Matthew Scott, Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent, who organised the letter, said: “We are turning away perfectly good people because we have decided you need a degree to be a police officer. There are many fine police officers who have never had a degree.”
