Police Now is a British charity supporting the recruitment of police officers across England & Wales. The social enterprise works with 31 of 43 police forces.

History

Police Now was initially set up as a graduate scheme by former Detective Chief Inspector David Spencer and Detective Superintendent Tor Garnett at the

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. Following its incubation within the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

, Police Now became an independent charitable social enterprise in April 2016. The scheme was inspired by

Teach First Teach First (also Teach First Cymru) is a social enterprise registered as a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Teach First coordinates an employment-based teaching training programme whereby participa ...

, the educational initiative that recruits graduates into schools.

Activities

Police Now recruit graduates into policing across

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The charity delivers two programme recruiting future Neighbourhood Police Officers and direct entry Detectives. Police Now is known for its focus on recruiting a diverse range of people into policing with a particular focus on recruiting

Black, Asian and minority ethnic A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

people. The social enterprise believes the wider policing sector can do more to advance diversity and inclusion. Police forces in the UK often come under scrutiny for their lack of diversity. During a recruitment campaign arguing that police forces needed to reflect the communities they serve, Lord Woolley, a trustee of the charity, claimed the lack of diversity in UK police forces could be attributed to

stop and search Stop and search or Stop and frisk is a term used to describe the powers of the police to search a person, place or object without first making an arrest. A 2021 survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that minority ethnic ...

and criminalisation of young black men for minor offences.

Governance

Police Now's board of trustees is chaired by Sir Ian Powell. The organisation is a registered charity, and a registered company limited by guarantee.

The charity has appointed a number of notable trustees

Helen Ball Helen Ball (born April 1961) is a retired senior British police officer. During part of her final year in policing she served as Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. A ...

, Assistant Commissioner of the

Louisa Rolfe Louisa Rolfe (born November 1969) is a senior British police officer. She currently serves as Assistant Commissioner for Met Operations in the Metropolitan Police, having been Deputy Chief Constable of West Midlands Police from 2016 - 2020. L ...

, Assistant Commissioner of the

* Lord Woodley , Political activist and politician *

James Bowler James Bernard Bowler (February 5, 1875 – July 18, 1957) was an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. He served three terms as a United States Representative for Illinois. Elected at age 78, Bowler is the second oldest person to win his ...

, Senior Civil Servant *

Rhammel Afflick Rhammel Emmanuel Basil Afflick (born 6 April 1994) is a British writer and political activist. He is best known for his campaigning on race, knife crime and LGBT+ rights. He was Director of Communications for Pride in London from 2019 to 2021. ...

, Political activist *

Judith Clegg Judith Caroline Clegg is a British strategy consultant, technology entrepreneur, and author. She is the founder and CEO of Takeout, a strategy consultancy based in London and New York City, and founder of The Glasshouse, a support network for t ...

, Entrepreneur and author

References

{{reflist Charities based in the United Kingdom Law enforcement in the United Kingdom 2015 establishments in the United Kingdom