Cumbria Constabulary has recruited all 51 of the new officers in the first phase of Operation Uplift ahead of the deadline in March 2021. Operation Uplift is the initiative to fulfil the Government’s promise of an extra 20,000 police officers across the country. Cumbria was one of the first constabularies in the UK to begin recruitment to fulfil the quota.
Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, said: “It’s fantastic news that Cumbria has now completed recruiting the 51 officers we were allocated in the first phase of Operation Uplift. This has been a huge effort to recruit and train the new officers.
“We took a risk back in August to begin recruitment for Uplift early and it has worked out in our favour as we are now ahead of the deadline of March 2021 by over six months.
“These additional police officers will be dedicated to our frontline and will be out in our communities fighting crime and have already been a significant boost to rural areas seeing officers deployed back into some of our smaller towns, with more to come, which means that our urban officers can focus on their communities providing a much better response to all communities.
“I have had the opportunity to meet some of the new officers and it is clear that they are very eager, talented people who are keen to serve and protect the people of Cumbria.
“I wish all 51 recruits the best for their future careers and I look forward to see them grow in to well-rounded, experienced officers.
“In the meantime we remain engaged with the Home Office to secure yet more officers for Cumbria in phase 2 and 3 of Op Uplift.”
Chief Constable Michelle Skeer, Cumbria Constabulary, said: “In Cumbria, we made the decision to move quickly to ensure we could maximise the benefits of introducing additional officers into our communities. We are proud to be one of the first forces in the country to have recruited our full allocation from the Government’s recruitment drive and that these officers are now protecting people across our county.
“The role of a police officer remains a challenging one, particularly given the unprecedented circumstances we continue to face due to the coronavirus outbreak. Pleasingly, we have seen that our recent recruits have all shown the desire to meet such challenges and make a real difference to all of our communities.”
