The Police are finally recruiting but is it cause to celebrate?

For many aspiring Police Officers out there, there has recently been a rare flare of recruitment activity that has given hope to being finally able to start a career in the Police. After almost three years of recruitment freezes, many Police forces are finally starting to open their doors to new applicants.

Forces who have taken part in recruitment drives in 2013 include Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Manchester and Nottingham and a few others. So does this mean that Police budget austerity and recruitment freezes are finally over? Hardly. Police budgets are set to tighten further as the Chancellor George Osborne seeks to further tighten the budgetary purse strings.

If we were to look closer at these recent recruitment figures, it can be seen that there's hardly a cause for celebration. Staffordshire Police's recent recruitment drive attracted 1400 applicants for just fourteen positions, that translates to around 100 people per position, an extraordinary ratio for any job seeker. This isn't just an isolated case either, North Yorkshire Police recently reported 500,000 phone calls for just 70 jobs, a staggering amount.

With such figures in mind it is easy to imagine just how stiff competition is. This is particularly true for external applicants (those who are not PCSOs or Special Constables), they are having to compete with a wealth of candidates who have hands on experience of the role that they are applying for and are known to those currently serving within their chosen force. While this can be argued to be a good thing for the force, it does not improve the ply of the average applicant who possesses the determination and skills needed to be a Police Officer but finds himself without the experience of internal applicants.

Not only are these short recruitment bursts proving difficult for candidates but Police numbers are still falling despite these recruitment drives. The number of officers within Staffordshire's Police force are set to fall to 1750 by 2015 from their peak of 2,347 in 2006, this is a nationwide trend and due to further cutbacks within forces, this is certainly not a trend that will be reversed any time soon.

In the current recruitment climate it is easy to see just how difficult becoming a Police Officer is. The most determined of candidates will have to steel themselves against the odds, apply for internal positions as Police Special Constables and PCSOs and keep applying. As Britain recovers from it's economic crisis, it can be hoped that Police Forces will receive a much needed fresh injection of cash that will see larger and more frequent recruitment drives.

Written by

Matthew Hayes

Creator of http://www.applicationformpolice.co.uk and author of The Police Application Guide, a guide that offers Police application help to aspiring Police Officers.

Turtle Skin

Turtle Skin are one of the worlds leading manufacturers of safety gloves, designed to protect against needle stick, cut, puncture and other sharps related injuries including snake bites (perhaps more applicable to the American market than the relatively snake free British Isles).  More rencently Turtleskin have also introduced a range of undergarments designed to protect the user from knife slashes known as Blade Tect which includes a long sleeve T shirt and a sleeveless T as well as plans for a leggins and a boxer short.  The Blade Tect range though does come in at the top end of the price market though compared to a cheaper alternative like BladeRunner, though TurtleSkin claim that their range is lighter weight, cooler and generally more comfortable making it a much more effective base layer to be worn under a uniform shirt for example.

The most popular products from TurtleSkin for police and security officers is their range of gloves, consisting of the Bravo, Alpha, Duty and Search glove (listed in price ascending order).  All the Turtle skin tactical range provide a neat and professional looking glove that is suitable for uniform wear whist offering anything from 4 to 11 times the needle puncture resistance of a normal kevlar cut resistant police glove.  All four styles of Turtle Skin gloves offer protection over the palm area over the back of the tips of the fingers and thumb.

As well as the tactical Turtleskin gloves there is a new range of "liner" gloves which are at a price point so low they are might almost be considered disposable!  Ideally worn under a surgical glove these liner gloves offer the highest levels of tactile feedback whilst offering a reasonable degree of protection from 28 guage needles (the kind most often used by IV drug users).  These gloves from TurtleSkin are ideal for delicate searches in relatively low violence environments as the level of protection offered is not enough to protect against any form of attack, but will reduce the risk of an accidental spike during a search procedure.

There are alternative needle resistant gloves on the market, HexArmour is probably the other most well known brand internationally using layers of their "Superfabric" to provide protection and maintain dexterity in their needle gloves, and Op. Zulu also offer a Needle Glove at an incredibly affordable price point.