Nottinghamshire’s Chief Constable Craig Guildford hopes to recruit the new officers using Home Office funding after Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to install an additional 20,000 police officers across the country over the next three years.
The first round of funding was announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid on Thursday, September 5.
Mr Guildford told NottinghamshireLive the exact amount of money allocated to Nottinghamshire Police is set to be confirmed over the next few weeks but he is “optimistic” that it will be enough to fund 150 new officers.
The force had previously unveiled plans to recruit an additional 175 new officers by March 2020.
If the bid for the additional 150 officers is successful, the force would see one of its largest ever increases in staff numbers in a single year.
Regardless of the amount of funding given to Nottinghamshire Police, Mr Guildford wants to boost its robbery, burglary, public protection, knife crime and digital forensic teams, as well as neighbourhood policing.
He said: “Over the years, those are the areas where we’ve seen decreases and these are the areas where the public, and me as Chief Constable, both want to see increases.
“Visible neighbourhood police officers on one hand and, on the other hand, we want to see a growth in specialist officers to tackle new forms of crime, but also the growth in public protection.
“We’ve had lots of success with the burglary teams. Burglary is down across the county quite substantially. We want to see that with robbery.”
Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping added: “People want to see a greater emphasis on neighbourhood policing and a more visible presence on the streets.
“The vast majority of our new recruits will go on the frontline.
“Our focus is on attracting and retaining the best people from a range of backgrounds to ensure that our workforce is truly representative of our local communities.”
The force will be seeking to recruit both new and existing officers but Mr Guildford is clear on the qualities applicants must have, regardless of experience.
He said: “The main thing – a moral compass, sound judgement, communication skills, resilience and humility.
“They are the vital ingredients for what the community demand of a police officer.”
Nottinghamshire Police received 800 applications during a recruitment drive earlier in the year.
Mr Guildford said: “We’re still working through from our previous recruitment campaign.
“We’ve got a lot of good people waiting to come in. We’re just waiting for the ‘yes’ on the money.”
However, the force will be launching a further recruitment drive “over the next few months” with job adverts set to be posted on Nottinghamshire Police’s website.
