The Metropolitan police is seeking to boost the number of officers it recruits who can speak and understand at least one of London’s 14 most used, non-English languages.
Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe says increasing the number of multi-lingual officers will “help boost confidence, help to solve crime more effectively and support victims and witnesses.”
During the next month all new recruits will be assessed on their ability to speak one of the following languages: Yoruba (Nigeria), Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Italian, German, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Sinhala (Sri Lanka) and Bengali
The pilot is Sir Bernard’s latest initiative to increase the diversity of officers and ensure the Met better reflects London’s communities. Last year the force introduced a new rule requiring potential recruits to have lived in the capital for at least three years.
Sir Bernard commented: “We know that almost 300 languages are spoken in the capital. We need to recruit and deploy officers with second languages in areas where those languages are spoken.”
For more information and to apply visit: met.police.uk/Page/Careers
