Nottinghamshire cops attend employment fair to promote 'military to police' scheme

Military skills translate well into policing, which is why Nottinghmshire Police has recently launched a new recruitment scheme to provide a direct pathway for military personnel to join the police service.

Currently, there is no specific national pathway for serving members of the armed forces to join the police – despite lots of military skills translating well into policing.

Nottinghamshire Police’s pioneering new Military Widening Access Course (MWAC), supported by the College of Policing, means serving military personnel who are coming towards the end of their Army careers will now be supported to transition into an exciting new role in policing.

The force has co-designed an innovative level four qualification in policing with the University of Derby, accessible to those within the military who are looking to utilise their skills and experiences in the police service.

The 12-week pilot course fast-tracks entrants onto the second year of the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA), which involves on and off-the-job learning in partnership with the University of Derby and the Ministry of Defence.

Having joined the police, the new recruits will then complete a two-year probationary period to be confirmed in post as a police officer and achieve a degree.

To promote the new programme, officers from Nottinghamshire Police who used to serve in the army attended a careers transitions partnership fair in Bristol to encourage ex-military service personnel to explore employment in the policing sector.

They included PC Steven Van Der Bank, who served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and toured Iraq in 2005 before joining Nottinghamshire Police.

He said: "Having completed the PCDA scheme, I was able to convey to pending service leavers that should they undertake the military pathway scheme.

"The support they will receive will be second-to-none thus making the educational process gratifying, congenial and thoroughly rewarding."

The response officer was joined at the careers fair by Ashfield team member PC Luke Bettridge, who also served in the British Army before joining the police.

PC Bettridge said: “It was a privilege to be able to showcase to military personnel what Nottinghamshire Police is offering service leavers, which includes our unique military pathway scheme.

"Nottinghamshire Police has a truly fantastic welfare support network in place for both service leavers and their families.”

PCSO Steven Timperley, who is chair of the Nottinghamshire Police Armed Forces Network, was also at the fair.

He said: "Myself and the team were able to relate information directly to armed forces personnel and explain the many values of attending the military pathway scheme.

“Furthermore, we explained the various processes of recruitment, training and the support they will receive during the degree phase, ongoing tutorship and thereafter completion of their PCDA scheme.

"All in all, it was a fantastic event to be part of and meet some great people.”

The MWAC is among a number of entry routes for those wanting to become a police constable in Nottinghamshire.

Serving personnel can register their interest in the MWAC by emailing [email protected] or by applying via the 'current vacancies' section the website here.