Bedfordshire officer gives graduation speech to hundreds of new officers

A Bedfordshire officer who gave a graduation speech to hundreds of new police officers has called the occasion "one of the greatest honours of my life".

PC Steven Beer was one of more than 400 community policing officers to graduate from the national Police Now programme in a series of ceremonies over two days.

PC Beer currently works in Bedfordshire Police's community cohesion team, which works to build links with different communities across the county.

In his speech in front of his fellow graduating officers, PC Beer spoke about his passion for community policing and driving positive social change as a police officer.

He also spoke about his Police Now cohort's journey into policing and the challenges they have faced together – including a global pandemic and major challenges to public confidence in policing - to become the leaders they are today.

"It is one of the greatest honours of my life to stand here before you and speak about the incredible journey that we have been on and to take stock of what is still to come," PC Beer said.

"As a neighbourhood police officer and now a police constable on Bedfordshire Police’s Community Cohesion team, I spend my days building strong community relationships and attending events across our county’s religious and social establishments. 

"We monitor tensions on an international level, proactively reach out to hurting communities to offer our support and services and find innovative ways to cut crime and anti-social behaviour.

“We do some phenomenal work as an organisation. I am proud to work for this organisation."

Steven’s wife Michelle, who attended the graduation to show her support, added: “I am incredibly proud of Steven for being a police officer. It’s so inspiring to see how hard he works to provide for our little family.

"He’s always so positive and motivated when he goes into work. He always wants to do the best for the community and be a big help and show everyone that they have the support of the police.

"He’s going to make a big difference in the future by becoming a sergeant and beyond, and anyone would be lucky to work with him. I’m so proud of him for graduating from Police Now, he worked incredibly hard and it was great to celebrate his achievements at the graduation.” 

There are lots of different routes into a career in policing. Visit our careers section for more information.

Police Now is a national programme for graduates looking for a career in policing. For more information about the programme visit