March 15, 2022 - 1979 views
North Wales Police has welcomed 9 new Special Constables into their ranks at a formal attestation event held in St. Asaph.
Since starting their training in November, they have been put through their paces in various written and practical assessments and were sworn into the Office of Constable.
A police attestation is a formal ceremony in which police officers and Special Constables are required to take an oath, which is witnessed by a Magistrate to formally appoint them into the post. Following this, they are sent out across the force to their appointed stations as operational police officers.
This attestation was rather special for two reasons; it was the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic that we’ve been able to welcome friends and family along to the event to support the new recruits. Also, this intake was lucky enough to be accompanied by the new North Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable; Chris Allsop who was also being attested to be appointed to his new role.
ACC Allsop, who was previously a Chief Superintendent with Greater Manchester Police, was successfully selected for the post in January. He said: "I'm really excited to be joining the team and working to make North Wales the safest place in the United Kingdom.
"In the build up to the recruitment process I had the privilege to meet so many dedicated, passionate and talented people, that I instinctively knew North Wales Police is a fantastic place to join.
"I want to also say a big thank you to everybody at Greater Manchester Police who I have worked alongside over the last twenty-two years. I wish the organisation all the best for the future."
Since starting his policing career with GMP in 2000 Chris has taken on a broad range of policing roles both in uniform and as a detective, ranging across local investigation, public protection, major crime and counter terrorism.
He was successful at the Senior Police National Assessment Centre in 2021 and graduated from the Strategic Command Course in December the same year.
A strategic firearms, public order and multi-agency gold incident commander, Chris has experience managing large scale events and critical incidents.
He has undertaken a number of Local Policing command roles in some of the most challenging and deprived areas of Greater Manchester and has experience of leading in complex, dynamic and political environments to bring about long-term change to help make communities safer.
The ceremony went well with family and friends there showing support. An attestation can be quite nerve-wrecking so it means a lot to the officers to have their nearest and dearest there to support them – plus there was plenty of cake to go round afterwards!
