I joined in January 2012 as a special, did almost 3 years, then joined as a PC in October 2014. I'm a "neighbourhood patrol officer", which is posh speak for response cop/cannon fodder/lowest of the low/jack of all trades/beat bobby/anything else you can think of.
In that time I've done stuff and seen stuff other people can't comprehend. It's an emotionally draining job. People outside the job might think they know what it's like, but they don't. I've seen more dead people than I care to remember, including those who were decomposing, and, sadly, more than one dead infant. I've listened to some horrific accounts from victims of rape and domestic abuse, and I've also sat and looked into the eyes and chatted with a man who'd murdered someone in the most horrific way. I've talked someone down off a ledge and listened to so many people who want to end their lives.
It's also been a bit hairy at times. I've been kicked, punched, headbutted, spat at, and someone even tried to set me on fire once. I've been called every name you can imagine, often from the person I'm trying to help. I'm expected to run towards the very thing everyone else is running away from, I'm usually working on my own, and sometimes my nearest backup is 20mins away.
It's physically hard at times too. It's not uncommon to work 15-16 hour shifts, and I rarely get a refs break. In the weeks after the Manchester Arena bombing, we were working 12 hour shifts, with our rest days cancelled. The night the bomb went off I got called up at 4am, expected to be in at 7, even though I'd not slept all night. I ended up doing 16 hours stood on cordon points in the sun, and i'd been awake 30 hours by the time I got home. And then the next day i was in at 6 again.
That was without doubt the most emotional and rewarding day of my career.
We do a 12 week shift pattern, which is ridiculously over-complicated (and is being changed in the next year to something simpler). All our shifts are 10 hours minimum, split up into earlies, starting at 7am, lates starting at various times dependent on the day or point in the pattern, and nights that go 9pm until 7am. It's hard to keep up with what shift you're on, and its physically difficult on your body. I'm writing this at 05:30am on a rest day, because I'm in between two sets of night shifts, and my sleep is an utter mess at this point!
Day to day my main role is to respond to calls from the public. That can range from a immediate grade 999 call with blue lights and sirens, to an appointment for someone to visit the police station. I'd say the majority of stuff we attend is not crime. A lot of our time is spent dealing with domestics, vulnerable people, mental health etc. This is hard work, because it can be frustrating as hell going back to the same addresses dealing with the same people that are falling through the cracks with other services, but it's the part of the job most likely to get you in trouble if you get it wrong.
On top of this, I'm also responsible for investigating crimes. This involves a lot of work, and is largely pretty dull. Some people enjoy this stuff, and they'll be the types who might look towards CID, but it's not for me. It's hours of sat in front of a computer, typing reports, filling out forms, waiting for stuff to come back from other people. I'll then arrest and interview any suspects. I don't particularly mind interviewing, but I find the process can be frustratingly time consuming. After they've been charged, the CPS will inevitably bombard me with requests for all kinds of different stuff, more forms, more enquiries, more work.
I also do a lot of public order stuff, mainly football but in summer I'll work protests and stuff. This is usually done on my rest days for overtime or time back.
It will have a massive effect on your domestic and social life. Working long hours and odd shifts makes it hard to have a social life. I've missed so many family occasions, birthdays, nights out that kind of thing. It also puts pressure on your domestic life. Your start time for a shift is fixed, your end time is flexible. Basically, you finish when you finish. If something happens, the job can and will retain you on duty. And if you get caught up with something at the end of your shift, you can't expect to just drop it and go home. On top of that you'll do things and see things you either won't be able to talk about, or won't want to. It's very hard for people outside the job to truly understand what it's like.
A lot of cops end up in relationships with cops, and it's easy to see why. It's just easier to be with someone who understands better, and you'll often spend more time with your colleagues than you do with your family members. Like Burnsey, most of my mates these days are in the job.
I think some people look at you differently if you're a cop, but my view is, if they do, they're not the kind of person I want to be friends with. I know some people who keep the fact they're a cop secret. I don't openly advertise it, but I am proud of what I do, so I won't hide it either. Everyone who knows me, knows I'm in the job, and most of my neighbours have worked it out by now. If they don't like it they can jog on. I do take some precautions though, as there are a lot of people out there who don't like the police.
I hope the above hasn't sounded negative. There is a hell of a lot of negativity in the job at the moment. It is hard to be a cop right now.
But I still can't think of any job I'd rather do. I honestly think it's the best job in the world, and for the most part I still look forward to starting work everyday. It's not for everyone, I know people who've joined and hated it, but like you say, no two days are the same. It's more exciting and interesting than your average day job, and it can be massively rewarding. If you get on a good shift, there's a great team spirit too. I spend most of my life with a small number of people, and we all trust each other to keep us safe. We don't always get on, we fight and argue sometimes, and some people get right on my nerves, but I'm not being dramatic when I say if they need it, I'll come running, and I know they will too. There's not many other jobs you can say that about.
I'm trained to control riots, effect entry into addresses on warrants, pursue stolen cars, and all sorts of other stuff I've forgotten about. I get to do stuff the richest most powerful people in the world cannot do. It can be great fun sometimes. I also know that there are criminals currently serving long prison sentences with my help too. I've locked up burglars, car thieves, rapists, abusers, even murderers and other things I can't even talk about!! It's immensely rewarding to say that, and I'm proud to do what I do. Despite what some people might think, cops join the job to do good things.
There was a video made about the met a few years back which I thought was amazing, and summed up the job for me quite well:
Some advice:
Take every opportunity you get. The specials is an amazing opportunity to get to do, see and try things you won't always get. I did all sorts of duties as a special, working on specialist teams, I worked at the Olympics, did plain clothes operations, I even got taught to fire a pistol! It's much harder to do that in the regs.
A lot of people join the specials just so they can apply for the regs. Don't do that, make the most of the opportunity and learn what the job really is. Go on courses, build on your experience. You might find you hate the job, but if you don't, it'll look great when you apply and can talk about the things you've done.
If you go full time, don't stop pushing yourself. Go on any courses you can. Volunteer for duties, do the overtime shifts. Become that person they can go to when something needs doing, because they'll know who you are when the good stuff comes out that you want to do.
And never forget that it's a job. There will be days that you can't be bothered, where you'd rather stay in bed, when you want to get off early so you can go do something else. Same as any other job. If you sit on your backside, content in doing the same thing day in day out, you'll get bored. Push yourself.
Edit: Wow, didn't mean to go on so much
Guess that was kind of therapeutic...
