Lancashire Constabulary has a proud reputation of making history in all aspects of policing - think air support back at the Grand National in 1947, personal radios, Panda cars, Z cars and the appointment of the UK's first female Chief Constable Pauline Clare* of Dalton near Parbold in 1995. https://www.lancashirepolicemuseum.co.uk/ Now it's done it again with Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden praising it for taking the number one spot in England for increasing the proportion of female officers joining the force through the Government's Uplift Programme. Some 54% of officers the force has taken on since March 2020 are female, more than any other force in the country, with 265 of the 486 officers who have joined the force over the past two years women.

The Constabulary is also ahead of its overall recruitment target and is on course to add over 600 officers to its ranks by 2023 thanks to the Uplift Programme together with money raised by the Commissioner through the council tax precept. Commissioner Snowden said: "The Constabulary is doing a fantastic job in recruiting quality candidates to join the force and I am proud to see them lead the way in recruiting a more diverse workforce. "The police must represent the communities it serves and seeing more female officers join the ranks is a great step towards achieving this. "I regularly join the attestation ceremonies for new recruits and it's always a pleasure to meet them, to see the enthusiasm they bring to their roles and to be able to reassure the public that the force is growing. "Lancashire will have more than 600 additional officers by 2023 which means more bobbies on the beat to take the fight to criminals and to keep our communities safe." Deputy Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett added: "The quality of all our recruits in Lancashire is superb and it is pleasing to see the recruitment of officers who support our increasingly diverse workforce. “We continue to work hard to recruit officers who are representative of all the communities we serve, and we strive to be flexible and supportive enough to allow them all to excel and achieve their career aspirations.” *One of my favourite Pauline Clare stories concerns her unveiling to the media at County Hall, Preston. As a humble PR officer I was minding the shop with a colleague but heard that after lots of searching questions from the high and mighty, up piped Andy Knott of the Manchester Evening News asking: 'And what kind of perfume are you wearing today Mrs. Clare?' Without batting an eyelid she retorted 'And what kind of aftershave are you wearing this morning Mr. Knott?' Touche!