A young footballer says she’s looking forward to starting her policing career after joining the ranks at Nottinghamshire Police.
PC Lizzie Blewitt was among 21 new recruits who celebrated their passing out parade on Friday (12 December).
The 20-year-old, a midfielder for Lincoln Women FC, said she was achieving her childhood goal by joining the police – adding she was looking forward to tackling crime. She said:
“I spent a lot of time at my nan’s house while I was growing up and she always had Police Interceptors on. From three years old, I always saw police on the TV and I’d say things like ‘I want to do that’ or ‘I want one of those big dogs’.
“I finished school and couldn’t wait to turn 18 so I could apply to join the police. I’m not built for sitting at a desk and I like helping people, so the police are a good fit for me.
“The 24 weeks of training have been good and I’m ready to get out there now. I’m joining the response team at Newark and can’t wait.
“During the training we had some experience of going out on street patrols. That was really beneficial for us and proved to myself that this is what I wanted to do.”
Yesterday’s parade saw Assistant Chief Constable Suk Verma welcome the new recruits who joined through our Police Constable Entry Programme – a non-degree route into uniformed policing that includes an initial training period of 24 weeks, combining classroom learning and practical on-the-job experience.
Proud friends and family members of the newly trained officers also braved the wet conditions to mark the special occasion, held outside our state-of-the-art training school near Papplewick.
After successfully completing their training the officers will now be assigned to response teams across Nottinghamshire.
Addressing those in attendance at the pass out parade, ACC Verma said:
“First and foremost, any pass out is an immense privilege. As one of the chief officers here at Nottinghamshire Police, it’s something that we certainly take very seriously and look forward to every time we get a new cohort here.
“On behalf of the Chief Constable, we want to extend our warm thanks to our cohort and to you, their families, for your time, effort and love to support our new cohort on their journey.
“This is a significant milestone. It doesn’t seem that long ago – 23 years ago – that I had my pass out parade here. You won’t forget this moment, and you won’t forget about the weather either!
“Today marks the culmination of quite a significant journey. Each and every one of you has performed really well throughout the training and I’m absolutely confident that you have excellent careers ahead of you.”
If you’re interested in a career with Nottinghamshire Police, you can find out about all the potential entry routes here: Careers | Nottinghamshire Police.
