Highest number of new recruits join Beds Police control room to handle growing number of calls

Bedfordshire Police has recruited its largest ever single cohort of staff to help the control room team deal with an increase in calls.

Nineteen new police staff members have started training ahead of joining the county’s nerve centre of policing where all 999, 101 and other public contact is managed.

The recruitment campaign has been launched in response to demand which has placed noticeable strain on control room staff and response times. Currently, some days see over 700 calls to 500 incidents and 200 crimes recorded in Bedfordshire.

The new starters are made up of a combination of radio agents, call handlers and contact operators.

More than 50 staff have joined the force’s control room since August as part of Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye’s pledge to invest in improving public contact.

Mr Akinbusoye said: "I want Bedfordshire Police to provide the very best police service to all of our residents, especially during moments of crisis.

“Our force control room is integral to delivering this outcome, and in order to achieve this, we need people who want to take on this challenging but rewarding role.

“This is why I made the funding available for the Chief Constable to do what was necessary to start recruiting FCR staff again. The number has steadily been growing since I came into office, but this is by far the highest number I have seen join us in two years.”

Since Covid lockdown restrictions were fully lifted in 2022, Beds Police witnessed an increase in call volumes, rising from under 10,000 999 calls a month at the start of the year to more than 13,000 calls per month on a couple of occasions towards the end of the year.

Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said: “I know how frustrating it is for people who need our help but cannot speak to us for one reason or another.

“This is why we are working tirelessly to get staff in and trained up as quickly as we can.

“These roles really are on the frontline of policing, providing the first response to people when they need help the most.

“It is an incredibly rewarding career with lots of possibilities for progression.”

Further details about joining Beds Police can be found here