Wrexham University students flying the flag for women in policing

A group of students will gain practical experience and help to keep communities in North Wales safe, once they are sworn in as Special Constables following completion of their training later this summer.

Ella Butler, Ella Owen, Hannah Sturt and Hannah John, who are moving into the second year of their Professional Policing degree at Wrexham University, are currently preparing to go out on the frontline and support the region’s Neighbourhood Policing teams.

Special Constables are volunteer Police Officers, who play a crucial role in keeping communities safe.

They work mainly within the Neighbourhood Policing teams providing high visibility patrols, working on proactive operations to deal with community problems, and support a wide range of local events and support the regular force at major events.

Training to become a Special Constable requires a host of training and scenario-based exercises – some of which includes carrying out a stop and search, learning how to stop catastrophic bleeds, as well as first-aid, training on how to use a defibrillator, fitness and medical tests, and more.

Speaking about their training, Hannah John said: “We’re finding it extremely valuable as it’s really helping to reinforce what we’ve learnt so far, while studying on the degree.

“It feels good to know that once we successfully pass out to formally become Specials later in August, we will get to gain some more hands-on experience and make a difference to communities, helping to keep people safe and continue to apply what we’re learning at university in a real-world setting.”

Hannah Sturt said it’s important that policing staff and those training fly the flag for women in policing.

She said: “Although policing is still largely seen as heavily male-dominated, I would say things are changing and thankfully, here in North Wales, we’ve got some fantastic role models including North Wales Police’s Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, who is the first female Chief Constable in the history of the Force.

“I think that representation is key and having a gender balance in policing is extremely important, particularly for victims of, for example, sexual assault.

“A female victim might not feel comfortable talking to a male about what happened but will feel less anxious talking to a female officer.

“What was also surprising for me was before I started the degree, I expected to be one of very few females on the cohort – however we are actually the majority, with only three males in our cohort.”

Andy Jones, Senior Lecturer in Policing, added: “We are immensely proud of Ella, Ella, Hannah and Hannah for successfully being accepted onto the North Wales Police’s Special Constable training and for the progress they’re making so far.

“They are a credit to themselves and the University.

“Volunteering as a Special Constable is incredibly valuable experience.

“It’s a huge commitment to undertake while also studying but it’s something we strongly encourage our students to do as it means they get to see the realities of the job that they’ll be doing, on completion of their degree.”