Nottinghamshire Police welcomed 20 new Police Officers as it continues to bolster its ranks despite challenges to training due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Following an 18-week training course, a small ceremony was held to mark their Passing Out at West Bridgford police station on Thursday.
As advised by the government following the Coronavirus outbreak, the ceremony wasn’t attended by the friends and family of the new police constables.
The police constables from Cohort IP6c were however keen to mark the occasion before they begin their roles this weekend, so an informal ceremony took place, which was inspected by Superintendent Sukesh Verma.
Speaking about the ceremony, Supt Verma said: “It’s really important especially given the current situation that we have a continuous drip of officers joining the force.
“We’ve had to make adjustments to comply with social distancing throughout the training, including officers logging on for learning at home and doing small group sessions throughout.
“The officers requested to have the passing-out parade themselves as they were keen to mark the occasion and because some of the group began operational duties this weekend, they wanted to have the experience.
“It’s great to have more officers on the front line especially during these uncertain times.”
The new officers will be deployed across the City and County force as front line officers.
The cohort is one included within Operation Uplift following on the news earlier this year that Nottinghamshire Police will be recruiting hundreds of new officers as part of a national programme funded by the Home Office.
The cohort has a mix of experiences including former PCSOs, Special Constables, sales, customer service, military and a barber!
22-year-old Brendan Farrell starts his shift as a police constable on Monday morning working in Eastwood and Beeston and is excited to start a new chapter in his life.
The former Graphic Design student at Nottingham Trent University said: “I’m just excited to get going really. We’ve had a great few months training together and it was a good way to end it on Thursday.
“We’ve all bonded really well in the group and training was really enjoyable, engaging and taught us a lot.
“I’m hopeful of having a long successful career with the force, with plenty of opportunities. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, to help the people that need help the most.”
