A police staff member who went above and beyond in her efforts to help the Constabulary hit a key recruitment target has been commended by the Chief Constable.
Human Resources Manager, Kate Ruddick, had taken a key role in the Constabulary's Op Uplift programme, working to ensure Cumbria hit its part of the national recruitment target for 20,000 new police officers, over a period of three years. This involved recruiting over 500 new officers in total to replace both those who were retiring and the additional national uplift target for Cumbria of 169 new officers
Cumbria's target was made all the more challenging as it came at a time of a peak in officers reaching their retirement years.
Kate is the daughter of a former Cumbria Police Inspector and worked as the strategic and tactical HR lead on the programme in Cumbria. This included liaising with the national Op Uplift team and leading a team managing the thousands of applications received in this time.
Kate was proposed for the commendation by Assistant Chief Officer Nancie Shackleton. ACO Shackleton said: "Achieving the target was a significant priority for the Constabulary and Kate took the weight of the responsibility on her own shoulders over a period of three years, before seeing the programme completed successfully.
"The personal commitment she has shown during this period in delivering the programme for the Constabulary and the county as a whole has been remarkable and worthy of recognition.
"The additional officers Cumbria now has will improve the service we can offer the public immeasurably and that is in no small part thanks to Kate's exemplary efforts."