Home Secretary Suella Braverman hails Nottinghamshire Police as 'national leaders'

Ms Braverman was shown around the force’s new state-of-the-art custody suite and headquarters by Nottinghamshire police and crime commissioner Caroline Henry and Chief Constable Kate Meynell.

She heard how violence against women and girls is being tackled locally through the Home Office-funded Safer Streets project, including the recent launch of the Night Time A-Z of Consent campaign.

A new programme led by the force’s violence reduction partnership to offer speech and language therapy to people in custody was also showcased.

Ms Braverman also joined a classroom session with some of the force’s newest recruits, who joined as part of Operation Uplift, the national drive to recruit 20,000 new police officers.

Speaking to the new recruits, she said she had seen some “excellent initiatives” she hoped to learn more about and take back to the Home Office for other forces to replicate.

She said: “You are great leaders in our country and some of the big areas we are tackling when it comes to law enforcement and criminal justice.

“I wish you all the best in your policing careers and long may you prevail.

“You are all heroes, you are heroes for your country, I’m incredibly proud of people putting themselves forward in the name of public safety, the highest professional standards and fighting for justice.

“You are part of the national effort, you are part of the family and you are part of a noble effort.

“Let’s not forget British policing is one of the best in the world.

“At the Home Office I’m on the receiving end of countless requests from around the world from countries that want to learn.

“Despite these challenging times we must never lose sight of the very high standards that we are known for globally. When it comes to perception you should all be very proud of what you do.

“We should continue to keep maintaining high standards but know that you are part of the solution in the challenge of restoring public perceptions because there is a challenge that we can’t ignore.”

Other highlights of the Home Secretary’s tour included an explanation of how the Nottinghamshire Police is using out-of-court disposals to prevent the criminalisation of some first-time entrants to the criminal justice system, and a visit to the force’s state-of-the-art control room.

Mrs Henry said: “I invited the Home Secretary to visit because I’m proud of all the work happening here to prevent and respond to crime and support victims.

“I’m delighted at how impressed she was with some of our trailblazing initiatives and I look forward to sharing more detail with her about the projects she saw.”

Ms Meynell said: “I would like to thank the Home Secretary for coming to visit us.

“A lot of hard work has been achieved to ensure we have more officers working on the frontline to keep the public safe and tackle the problems affecting our communities.”