A Lincolnshire Police recruitment campaign has seen increases in applicants from more diverse backgrounds.

DI Lee St Quinton said of the latest campaign: "We're thrilled to see more female applicants, people from BAME backgrounds, and those with second language skills."

As part of its most recent recruitment campaign, Lincolnshire police has seen increased diversity in the number of applications from BAME communities, females and people with second language skills.

Over an eight-week period from October to December last year (2020) the force opened recruitment for police officer roles as part of the national uplift programme. A new detective fast track scheme was also opened for people with more of an interest in becoming detectives.

Results from the campaign are showing a positive impact on these priority areas – to recruit more females, applicants who reside on the East of the county, people with second language skills and more people from BAME communities.

Across Lincolnshire, people from BAME communities account for 2.4% of the population. While targets weren't set as part of the work, Lincolnshire Police's recruitment campaign has seen the percentage of its BAME workforce increase from 2% in 2018 to 2.5% this year. Work will continue to make sure that the workforce is as representative and diverse as possible.

DI Lee St Quinton of Lincolnshire Police's Horizons 2023 Programme said: "We're thrilled to see an increase in our applications from often under-represented groups or areas. We want to make sure our force represents the communities we serve and to do that, we must ensure the people who serve this county are very much a part of it."

DI St Quinton continued: "This is a great start but there's still much to do. We're determined to make sure that all our communities in Lincolnshire are and feel represented by the police officers and staff who serve them.

"Before the recruitment window opened, we knew that we, like all police forces were not representative of our community. However, through several positive action measures we are engaging with BAME communities like never before, with a key focus being to support potential candidates at every stage of their policing journey.

"As we aim to improve the diversity of our work force, we also recognise that speaking a second language is an important skill, particularly on the East of the county. We expanded our reach here to include British Sign Language and Makaton and are currently supporting 18 people with second language skills through the recruitment process."

Another positive from the recruitment campaign has been the number of female applications made to the force. Lincolnshire police currently has a workforce that is a 69% male and 31% female. The autumn recruitment campaign saw a shift to a ratio of 59% male and 41% female applicants.

The detective fast track scheme, which coincidentally accounted for 41% of all applications during the campaign, has been a key factor in this change, with 51% of the applications being received from females.

Detective Inspector St Quinton continued: "We still have work to do to better understand this disparity and bring about gender equality in policing, but we are pleased to share these positive developments with our community.

"We are being very clear as an organisation that this is by no means the journey's end, but rather a step along the path to improving the diversity of our workforce."

The Horizons Programme has been created by the force to look at how we maximise the opportunities presented by the national uplift of police officers.