Minns Government ramps up police recruitment with extra Academy class

In a major boost to recruitment, the NSW Police Academy will move from three attestation classes to four, creating a larger, faster pipeline of new probationary constables for commands across NSW.

This follows the recent attestation at the Police Academy of another record-breaking class, with Class 368 being the largest in more than 13 years - underscoring the Government's commitment to rebuilding and strengthening frontline policing across the state.

The new class will be backed in with a new advertising campaign, calling on the community to sign up and be a part of the best police force in the country.

The new recruitment program is just one part of the Government's effort to rebuild the NSW Police Force after more than a decade of neglect, underinvestment and the Liberal-National's wages cap that made it harder to recruit and retain officers.

Since coming to office, the Minns Labor Government has:

• Delivered a historic pay rise for police
• Introduced paid study for recruits, resulting in a 70 per cent increase in applications
• Established the Be a Cop In Your Hometown program to allow regional recruits to return to or near their community after training
• Established new recruitment pathways for experienced officers from interstate and New Zealand.

The Government has been clear, NSW needs more police and we will pull every lever to make it happen.

Recent months have shown us that our police are being asked to do more than ever: responding to domestic and family violence, confronting organised crime, keeping roads safe and protecting communities in every part of the state, sometimes on their darkest days.

This additional class is about getting more recruits through the Academy, curbing the attrition of retiring and experienced officers and placing more probationary constables into commands in every corner of New South Wales.

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:

"NSW needs more police, and this addition means more recruits coming through the Academy and onto the frontline every year.

"This is about opening the door to more people who want to serve their community and making sure we can get them trained and into the field as quickly as possible.

"We know we can't make the job of a cop safe, you just need good, brave people willing to step up."

Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said:

"We are putting more police through the Academy and onto the frontline.

"This is about rebuilding the force, strengthening the pipeline and getting more boots on the ground in communities right across New South Wales.

"We have worked hard to recruit and retain more officers, be it with better pay, paid study at the Academy, and new pathways for experienced police to join our police force.

"Under the Coalition's decade of neglect our police were treated as a spreadsheet. Their wages were capped, their conditions worsened and our force was not adequately invested in. We are turning that around each and every day we govern.

"We will keep backing them, because keeping NSW safe starts with a strong, supported and growing police force."