Crime is becoming more complex and criminals ever more sophisticated. Police forces across the UK need new tactics and capabilities to meet these evolving threats to keep communities and individuals safe.

In late 2019 the Government published an initiative giving forces the remit to attract and develop a workforce with more diverse talents, knowledge and life skills. Their target was to uplift police officer numbers by 20,000 across the country.

Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies turned to us to create their recruitment drive. We created ‘Yes Police’. The campaign had a soft launch in February 2021, with initial exposure focussed online and on social with the ability to move outdoor later that year.

We ran five focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of the public’s perception of modern policing, it’s validity as a career path and to identify the barriers that may exist. Insights from this research allowed us to create personas, invented characters to fit each audience segment in age, ethnicity, qualifications and work/life experience.

As we developed the creative, we tactically advised we must identify with the potential recruit – not the resulting police officer. We purposefully avoided default ‘police blue’ and ensured the uniform didn’t feature. This was a major departure for a police recruitment campaign.

And it was a shrewd move. Soon after our campaign broke, a force elsewhere in the country was heavily criticised in the media for using actors to portray uniformed officers in their recruitment efforts.

As always, ideas with integrity that are simply communicated are those that engage best.