WILTSHIRE Police have pledged to make policing more representative of its communities.

It wants to encourage people from under-represented groups to seek a career in policing, and would like to be more inclusive when working with partner agencies and communities.

The force is recruiting new PCSOs from next Monday and will be advertising for local crime investigators in November.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: “We want to reach out to communities and give them a voice to feedback what matters most to them in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion in local policing.

‘I am encouraged to see we are now starting to see increased numbers of applications from under-represented groups.

“Our latest police officer recruitment campaign has resulted in 131 successful applicants, including seven black and minority ethnic (BAME) applicants, which is more reflective of Wiltshire’s 5.5 per cent BAME population as a whole.

“However, we know we have more to do to attract, support and retain officers and staff from diverse backgrounds to truly reflect our communities."

Angus Macpherson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said: "We have some way to go before Wiltshire Police can claim truly to be representative of the communities they are here to serve, but there are signs of progress.