Tooled up: How All Police Jobs is equipping forces to recruit more female officers

On 29th February 2024, Lady Eilish Angiolini’s report into the crimes committed by Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens was published.

The independent inquiry identified 16 recommendations to remedy the issues raised in the report. All of which have been accepted by the Home Office for implementation into police forces across England and Wales. 

Lady Angiolini highlights the gender imbalance and toxic workplace culture in policing, and follows this with Recommendation 16, focusing on the recruitment and retention of women in police forces.

Women currently make up only a third of police officers in England and Wales. A separate report by Baroness Casey found that if recruitment practices continue with its current trajectory, it will take until 2053 to reach a gender balance in policing.

Recommendation 16 of the Angiolini Inquiry states:
“By September 2024, the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council should review and examine the conditions of female officers and staff in order to encourage more women to join the police and progress in policing careers.”

All Police Jobs has partnered police forces since 2007 helping to recruit tens of thousands of people into the service. We are acutely aware of the gender imbalance in policing and believe that tackling the issue starts with recruitment.

We began our research into gender bias in police recruitment adverts in 2022. In 2023, we published a report which found that the use of male-bias language in job adverts deters female applicants from applying to the role.

This year, to help forces tackle this issue, we have developed a tool that detects male and female gender-biased language in your job adverts and provides alternative words that have no gender bias attached to it in real time. 

The gender bias toolkit, currently being trialled by our subscribers, ensures the language in their job adverts is bias-free to attract a more diverse pool of candidates.

To read our report, or to learn more about our gender toolkit, contact richard@chestnutmedia.co.uk.

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