TWENTY five new police officers have completed their initial training and are set to join teams out on patrol across North Yorkshire.

For the past 19 weeks, the trainee officers have been taking part in a comprehensive training programme that involves classroom learning, practical tasks and assessments. On Friday they took part in a Passing Out ceremony, before being posted out across the region to take up their duties in the community.

Whilst out on area, the new officers will continue be supervised and assessed for a total of two years – all part of the rigorous training and development that police officers must undertake.

North Yorkshire Police assistant chief constable Annette Anderson said: “A Passing Out ceremony is always a very special day because it marks the end of initial training, the beginning of these officers’ careers, and the start of their service to the people and communities of North Yorkshire.

“I know they will be very excited about joining their commands and putting their knowledge and enthusiasm for service into practice.”

The new officers include Joe Danson, Chris Drewery, Yoseph Elogab, Ben Hepworth, Miriam Mills, Jayne Plumb, Liam Taylor, Josh Tulip and Becca Webber, all of York Command.

2019 is a significant year for neighbourhood policing at North Yorkshire. In addition to this latest cohort of police officers, the force has also just completed major recruitment campaigns for more police community support officers, and additional trainee police officers, to boost numbers on the ground. These campaigns, which attracted more than one thousand applicants, are the result of police, fire and crime commissioner Julia Mulligan’s decision to raise the precept for policing, to pay for more police on the front line.