Student officers at Staffordshire Police are celebrating after graduating from the force’s first ever Detective Degree Holder Entry Programme.
The ceremony, which took place at Staffordshire County Showground on 16th May, saw DCDHEP and Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship students mark the end of their respective courses in an event attended by senior force leaders.
The newly-qualified officers will now join the force’s ranks at PC and DC level across the organisation, working in departments from response and neighbourhood to CID, rape and serious sexual offences unit and our child protection and exploitation team.
As part of the event, a number of prestigious awards were also given out, to the most outstanding students within each cohort.
PC Rachael Jones won the outstanding student officer award for the completion of her course, which saw her graduate with a first-class degree.
Rachael, who is now a response officer working from Stafford, said: “I had no previous policing experience when I started the course three years ago, so it was certainly a challenge!
“You go through everything in the course, from legislation and policies to how to respond to emergencies, something that I’m doing every day now as a response officer.
“As soon as you call 999, and the call is either a grade one or grade two call needing an immediate or priority response, I will be allocated to attend the incident with another officer.”
Referring to her graduation and award win on Tuesday, the PC added: “It has been a long journey to get here.
“It was so lovely to see everyone again after we’ve been posted all over the force.
“I wasn’t aware I was going to win an award but it was brilliant to receive that acknowledgement of all the hard work.
“I’m still learning on the job, learning something new every day and I look forward to staying in response to help really make a difference to people’s lives every day.”
Other award winners included PC Toni Marie Foster who won the outstanding achievement award and a male PC, who preferred not to be named, who won a learning and development award.
The PC, who now works within CID, said: “I completed the PCDA course and some of the modules were quite intense, giving us a real foundation and deeper understanding of different elements of policing.
“It was completely unexpected and quite overwhelming to be given the award alongside the graduation.
“It was fantastic to get the recognition and to have completed the course alongside on-the-job experience.
“I’ve been with CID since July last year and have already contributed to the sentencing of one offender for seven years and other positive outcomes.
“It has been a whirlwind but a thoroughly enjoyable one – we’ve had to adapt to different situations, be resilient and manage our time – all the attributes officers need every day and I’m so pleased I’ll now be able to help people day-in, day-out as we all work towards our common policing goals.”
Detective Inspector Simon Caton, who leads the DCDHEP programme, said: “We remain convinced of the value to our communities from these higher education hybrid programmes, these officers have demonstrated fantastic determination, resilience and professionalism in completing their respective degrees and diplomas in professional policing practice alongside their day-to-day operational duties.
“We are all very proud of what they’ve achieved and they are real asset to our organisation.”
If you are interested in becoming a student officer, or would like more information on the courses available, visit our recruitment site at: Welcome – Staffordshire Police (tal.net).
