Northumbria Police’s recruitment efforts to get more uniformed officers out on the streets of the North-East are working and Government targets are being smashed.

This was the opinion of Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness.

As the Home Office provided a national update on police uplift figures for the country, Miss McGuinness confirmed that the force is on track to not only meet Government targets but aims to exceed this by recruiting up to 133 further officers by the end of the financial year.

The latest figures show that Northumbria Police currently has 3,344 serving police officers working alongside the dedicated police staff, PCSOs and Specials.

Miss McGuinness, said: “Police officer recruitment has been a top priority of mine and despite all the recent Covid-related challenges, our recruitment efforts over the last year have been really positive. I wanted to make sure we get more officers in post again and build the force back up after years and years of cuts to the service – our force took a real hit with austerity. Right now, I’m doing everything within my power to reverse this. The Force is growing well – we have some excellent new people who have joined us and as these new recruits complete their training, we can look forward to a greater visible presence of police officers out in our communities, making people feel safer.”