The Volunteer Cadet Corps in Gloucestershire
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6203500611 |
| Author | Stanley J. Gudge |
| Date | 01 November 1962 |
| Published date | 01 November 1962 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
POLICE
SERGEANT
STANLEY
J.
GUDGE
Training Branch,
Gloucestershire Constabulary
The
Volunteer
~adet
~orps
inGloueestershire
IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE there is an establishment of 50 regular cadets
who are recruited at the age of 17, and for some time numerous
applications have been received from youths of 16, who wish to join
the cadets on leaving school.
If
these youths were accepted into the
regular cadets it would slow down the turnover, and could mean
that they would lose some of their initial interest if they had to serve
three years as a regular cadet before joining the regular force.
Applicants who were too young were informed of the position and
asked to apply again just prior to their seventeenth birthday. This
was an unsatisfactory state of affairs because the boy had to find
some way of filling in this year, and when he became 17, there was no
guarantee that he would be successful in gaining entry because (a) a
waiting list had been in operation for some time, and (b) he might
not be of the required academic and physical standard.
It
was also
found that many of these youths did not re-apply either at the age
of 17 for the regular cadets or at 19 for the regular force, and there
is little doubt that a large number of potential recruits were lost to
the Service in this way.
Planning the Corps
The possibility of avoiding this loss was explored and the idea of a
volunteer cadet corps for youths between 16 and 18 years was
formulated. This corps would not only cater for those who were
under age for the regular cadets; it would also be open to youths
who were interested in the Police Service as a career, but who wished
to remain at school or complete an apprenticeship, or similar
training, and then apply to join the regular force at 19. The police
authority for the county gave the scheme their blessing. This was
an entirely new venture, not only for Gloucestershire but for the
country, and as we were pioneers in the field there was no-one to
advise how such a scheme could be best administered, bearing in
mind that this was not to be of a temporary nature but to be per-
manently with the force.
A meeting was held at headquarters in October, 1960, and all
officers who were interested and willing to assist were invited. The
response was greater than anyone had visualized, and it was at this
November-December 1962 420
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