Against a background of falling police recruitment across Great Britain, and with UK job finder site Indeed reporting that the number of people searching for police jobs across the country had fallen by 19% since 2017, the objectives were: to increase consideration of policing as a career, increase agreement that ‘people like me’ could apply to be a police officer, increase the proportion of people taking action as a result of seeing the campaign, and to elevate the image of policing amongst the wider population - shifting perception and altering broader social narratives creating positive feelings towards the role of Police Officers. Prime objectives were to drive the required volume and quality of candidates to apply for a career in policing via the joiningthepolice.co.uk website and demonstrate the contribution and impact the police have within local communities

In order to cut through long-held opinions about the police, the creators behind ‘Untold: The Police’ opted for open, honest, unscripted conversations where the potential new recruits raise issues that are closest to them, including reaction of family and friends, inclusion, the Black Lives Matter movement, stop and search, and balancing personal life with work. The campaign is part of the Home Office’s wider Make Your Difference initiative aimed at recruiting 20,000 additional police officers over three years.

The brief was to create a film series that showed real insight into how the police are perceived as seen through the eyes of potential recruits. This was achieved through films built around the idea of creating instantly recognisable police interview scenes. Filmic police interviews that were then turned on their head or subverted as the member of the public, instead of the police officer, led the interview and questioning.

The audience is broad, with 51% stating their Career choices were influenced by people close to them, 17% by family members and 34% by their friends. This means we needed to Elevate the role of a career in the police not just amongst the key target audiences but amongst a wider and influential audience. Potential recruits needed to represent groups and communities who are less likely to consider a career in the Police force. These included LGBTQ+ communities, Black or Black British communities, Asian or Asian British communities and women. It was equally important that the highlights and lowlights of everyday policing were part of the conversation. However, it was crucial that we didn't dismiss difficult questions and uncomfortable conversations. For example, the BLM movement and questions around racism, homophobia and sexism within the police. Honesty and authenticity were vital for these films to be effective.

People form a lot of their understanding around what a role in the Police entails through popular media, film and TV in particular. Some of this is positive and some negative. We wanted to harness the power of TV to create new narratives that ultimately show how a career in policing enables potential candidates to make their difference, and drives consideration of policing as a career. So the campaign includes a branded three-part series for social media which launched across the UK’s Channel 4’s Facebook and YouTube accounts and is available to stream in full on Channel 4’s streaming service All 4. In addition, a collection of police-focused reality programming, sponsored by the Home Office, was hosted on All 4, including Untold: The Police, making this integrated, cross-platform partnership the first of its kind.

A survey revealed that the episodes promoted a positive message and came across as authentic and honest, which many found thought-provoking.

Many respondents felt the films taught them something new about the police and were likely to discuss the clips with family/friends.

The films showed the police taking diversity seriously and that people from diverse backgrounds can have successful policing careers.

Overall the episodes boosted participants’ perceptions of policing.

The key message was that the police are trying to recruit a diverse workforce, and generally, people liked the openness of the films and the positive message.

35% feel more positively about the police after watching the episodes

35% said it made them feel that someone like them could be a police officer.

24% were encouraged to look into a career as a police officer

15% of respondents are likely to consider a career in the police