Don't just take it from us...

To hear the experiences of people who already work for us please watch the videos below.

An inclusive Police Service

What does that mean? And why is it important?

Not all people are the same. And we want our organisation – police officers and staff alike – to be more like the communities we serve.

People bring valuable skills, experience and knowledge to an organisation, and these are enriched and enhanced by differences in race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, faith and age.

The diversity of our workforce has a direct impact on the quality of service we provide to the public. The more closely our workforce reflects the people we represent the more effectively we can protect and serve the people living in our communities.

We recognise that people come from a wide variety of different backgrounds and that affects what they need from the Police. Ensuring that the Police workforce reflects the communities we serve means that we are able to better understand and cater for the needs of everyone living in our communities.

How an inclusive workforce can help us to improve the Police service

• Employing people from different backgrounds gives us a better understanding of the lifestyles, beliefs and cultures of people living in our communities
• Employing people who can speak different languages means we can communicate more effectively with people living in our communities
• Employing people from different communities increases the level of trust and understanding between the police service and those communities

Positive action

To help us increase the number of people from diverse communities within our workforce we use a variety of measures designed to help eliminate stereotyping and create a more balanced workforce.

It is important to note that Positive Action is not about giving some people more favourable treatment.

Positive action initiatives are designed to encourage people from certain groups who are under-represented in the workplace to apply for jobs and promotions.

Some people may feel that they may not `fit in` to some organisations because of their lifestyle or background; their past experiences of some organisations may have led them to think they would not be an automatic choice as an employee.

By using positive action we aim to dispel such myths and show potential employees how organisations have changed, and show that we particularly welcome applications by people from under-represented groups.

What kinds of roles are available?

There are a huge range of roles available within the Police Service. These include:

• Police Officers
• Police Community Support Officers
• 999 call handlers
• Analysts
• IT
• HR
• Marketing and communications
• Finance and resources
• Administrators

How can I apply?

Avon and Somerset Police have an Outreach team who can provide people from diverse backgrounds with an insight into what it's like to work for the Police Service.

You can contact the Outreach team on Tel: 0117 9529513 or by email on outreach@avonandsomerset.police.uk and express an interest in a role or just find out what it's all about.