Darren Henry
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Police Training: Entry Routes
Darren Henry Excerpts(1 year, 9 months ago)
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Darren Henry (Broxtowe) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir George. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Dr Mullan) for securing this Westminster Hall debate and allowing me to speak.
Policing is a profession that I admire greatly. Police officers dedicate their lives to ensuring that we as citizens feel safe in our own communities. As a veteran, I believe that the commitment and values of police officers are similar to those of people who serve in the armed forces. As the roles have very similar purposes, it is inevitable that a lot of the skills learned and developed are directly transferable.
This similarity made me realise that we need a clear and accessible route to encourage veterans to enter the police force, so last year I organised a meeting with my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Leo Docherty), who was then Minister with responsibility for defence people and veterans; my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse), then Minister for Crime and Policing; the police and crime commissioner; and the chief constable of Nottinghamshire police. At that meeting, we all discussed this military-to-police scheme.
The military service leaders pathway to policing course was the result. It allows individuals leaving the armed forces and serving in their resettlement period to join a 12-week programme that fast-tracks them to the second year of the police constable degree apprenticeship. Nottinghamshire police has its first cohort in training from the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich for securing this debate, because we need to make sure that as many people as possible are aware of the police training entry routes. We also need to continue to seek new entry routes into the police force where possible.