Direct Entry at inspector rank to be introduced
The College of Policing today announced plans to launch a new programme for Direct Entry at inspector rank.
Under the new programme, forces will be recruiting exceptional external candidates to join the service at inspector level – something that has not been done in policing in almost 100 years.
The programme will give police forces access to a wide mix of external expertise once recruits have passed a rigorous selection process and undergone a year-long intensive development programme.
The decision to bring in the new programme follows the successful introduction of Direct Entry at superintendent level and a recommendation in the Leadership Review which called for greater career flexibility in policing through better routes of entry, exit and re-entry.
The programme will build upon and replace the existing Fast Track programme for external graduates. The internal Fast Track programme for existing officers will stay the same, while candidates already on the external Fast Track programme will continue.
The future police leaders will be trained using a mix of classroom and on-the-job learning, including operational rotations at both constable and sergeant rank. The candidates will work alongside experienced officers and have dedicated mentors to help them achieve the necessary level.
Direct Entry lead for the College, Chief Superintendent Nicola Dale, said: “The new programme is the latest step in our work to ensure that the service attracts the best talent from outside policing.
“External applications for the Fast Track programme saw candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds applying. The Police Now programme for graduates is a success and it is important there is another route for people at a different stage in their career who wish to become police officers.
“The candidates we attracted through Fast Track were excellent and we are building on that success with Direct Entry at Inspector. Looking at the candidates we attracted, there is clearly an appetite for people with established skill sets to fill officer roles at different levels.
“This programme will be extremely tough, but it needs to be - to become an inspector, candidates will need to demonstrate they are at the very top of their game.
“Successful recruits will bring diversity and external experience to management level within policing – an idea that was touched upon in the College’s Leadership Review, published earlier this summer.
“The quality of the candidates we are attracting is already becoming clear after they sat a national legal exam, which is compulsory to become an inspector, and the pass rate was 96 per cent. This is compared with a pass rate of 50 per cent nationally for those not involved in Fast Track.
“In addition, more than 1,600 people sat the exam nationally and 32 officers were classified as exceptional having achieved 85 per cent or above. From those, 29 were Fast Track constables.
“The programme is at an early stage but we plan to launch it at the same time as our third round of Direct Entry at Superintendent.”
