Deputy Chief Constable Craig Guildford was joined by Lady Diana Hayman-Joyce JP to welcome fifteen new Special Constables into the Gwent Police family at an attestation ceremony on Thursday night.

Senior Officers from Local Policing Areas, representatives from the Special Constabulary and families of the new officers attended the ceremony which was held at the Lysaght Institute in Newport. The new Special Constables took their oaths and were presented with their certificates and warrant cards. Each Special Constable has been given details of the communities within Gwent where they will work alongside regular officers.

Deputy Chief Constable Craig Guildford welcomes the new officers:

"It’s a delight to welcome these new officers to the wider Gwent Police family. They provide invaluable support to our regular officers to meet our priorities and to protect and reassure communities across Gwent. In these times of financial challenges in the police service nationally, I couldn’t be more grateful for the skills, knowledge and qualities these officers bring to the wider policing family and for the officers’ dedication, commitment and hard work in delivering an excellent service to their communities”

Special Constabulary Chief Officer Richard Jones commented:

“I am delighted that these new officers have completed the first stage of our new bespoke training program. If that is not dedication enough, over the next six months they will all complete over 120 hours of operational training on the beat and a further four weekends of specialist training. These Officers have come to us from all walks of life including a Supermarket Manager, Civil Servant, Teacher, Life Guard through to a Rugby Development Officer. There have also been two “firsts” for the Gwent Police Special Constabulary among the latest recruits: Special Constable Pete Joyce is a former Gwent Police Community Support Officer and Special Constable Kirsten Watkins has joined us after spending two years as a Gwent Police Cadet. These Officers will be stationed throughout the Gwent Police area and I very much look forward to working with them all to better serve Gwent communities.”

There are currently 120 Special Constables in the Gwent Police area, if you would like to apply to become a Special Constable and would like more information please go to http://corporate.gwent.police.uk/careers/specialconstable/