Two young people have joined Wisbech force as the first ‘police now’ graduates in Cambridgeshire.
They are among eight graduates who completed a summer training academy and ‘passed out’ at a ceremony at force HQ in front of proud family and friends.
The four women and four men have an average age of 23 and are on the first step towards a policing career for graduates.
DI Anderson said: “Police now graduates will be tasked to work in local neighbourhoods, engaging with people and understanding what is important to them.
“They represent a real investment in community problem-solving and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to working with partners to tackle the underlying causes of criminality.
“Our students are bringing with them a wealth of experience, from academic criminology degrees, to working with the third sector, all of which will help them craft innovative strategies to support our most deprived communities.”
Jacob Reeves and Rhian Jones will be joining the Wisbech station.
Jacob likes hiking, camping and walking, was a scout as a boy and became a scout leader when he turned 18.
He worked as an after school club science teacher and studied criminology at Durham University while volunteering with Durham Constabulary.
He said: “Police now is a wonderful opportunity. Its emphasis on community and problem-orientated policing strategies resound strongly with me, as do its obvious influences from the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS).
“The combined complications of urban and rural policing and wide contrast in socio-economic conditions, combined with an increasingly culturally diverse community, presents a unique policing challenge.”
Rhian Jayne Jones is a forensic science student who likes keeping fit through running and strength training, and enjoys reading, writing and camping.
“She worked as a security guard at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games and was working in the BBC building on “Super Saturday”, meeting and greeting athletes and celebrities.
She said: “I have known for quite some time that I would like to have a career which was closely linked with the police force.
“I am looking forward to joining Cambridgeshire as the team I have met so far seem wonderfully confident and enthusiastic about their roles and are very positive about the police now mission, so I feel that I am in good hands and will be well supported.”
The two-year programme will see the graduates working as dedicated neighbourhood police officers and at the end they can continue in their neighbourhood role, transition to another officer role or move beyond policing.
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