Police Now

British charity

  • London, W1
Area served
England and WalesServices
  • National Graduate Leadership Programme
  • National Detective Programme
Key people
  • David Spencer (Co-Founder)
  • Tor Garnett (Co-Founder)
  • Sir Ian Powell (Chair)
Affiliations
  • Home Office
  • Metropolitan Police Service
Revenue
£7.2m
Employees
86Websitewww.policenow.org.uk

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.[1]

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.[2] Following its incubation within the Metropolitan Police, Police Now became an independent charitable social enterprise in April 2016.[3] The scheme was inspired by Teach First, the educational initiative that recruits graduates into schools.[4][5]

Activities

Police Now recruit graduates into policing across England and Wales.[6] The charity delivers two programme recruiting future Neighbourhood Police Officers and direct entry Detectives.[7][8]

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 people. The social enterprise believes the wider policing sector can do more to advance diversity and inclusion.[9] Police forces in the UK often come under scrutiny for their lack of diversity.[10] 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 and criminalisation of young black men for minor offences.[11]

Governance

Police Now's board of trustees is chaired by Sir Ian Powell. The organisation is a registered charity,[12] and a registered company limited by guarantee.[13]

The charity has appointed a number of notable trustees

  • Helen Ball QPM, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
  • Louisa Rolfe OBE, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
  • Lord Woodley Kt, Political activist and politician
  • James Bowler CB, Senior Civil Servant
  • Rhammel Afflick BEM, Political activist
  • Judith Clegg, Entrepreneur and author

References

  1. ^ Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo - Police Now 100 day impact event". Alamy.
  2. ^ Urwin, Rosamund (9 October 2014). "The new blue line: meet two Detective Inspectors with a difference". www.standard.co.uk.
  3. ^ "Police Now Cohort 1 Final Evaluation Report" (PDF) – via www.london.gov.uk.
  4. ^ Williams, Sally (16 June 2023). "How Police Now is reviving urban community policing" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Police Now: The beat generation". CIPD People Profession.
  6. ^ "A new beat". 6 September 2019 – via PR Newswire.
  7. ^ "A new beat". The Economist. 20 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Graduates can become detectives in just 12 weeks with new Police Now scheme". Blasting News. 11 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Written evidence submitted by Police Now". 1 June 2020 – via UK Parliament.
  10. ^ "Police force diversity is improving in the UK – but there's a long way to go". 4 June 2020 – via UK Parliament.
  11. ^ Townsend, Mark (1 November 2020). "Stop and search 'makes it harder to hire black police officers'". The Observer – via The Guardian.
  12. ^ "POLICE NOW - Charity 1168427". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk.
  13. ^ "Company no. 09922205. POLICE NOW overview". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.