The Police Application Thread

Burnsy2023 said:
We did have a few vehicles that required you to tap your warrant card to start, but the feedback from officers wasn't very positive so they stopped it.
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I think VS has jinxed it. Hampshire are now rolling this out to all vehicles, despite the poor officer feedback *sigh* :mad::(
 
Alz_D said:
A quick question to all those with experience.

I'm 34 and currently work in a job that makes me miserable for 50+ hours a week. I'm getting reasonably fit and want to change career to something that is going to challenge and reward me and have been looking towards a career in the police force. I have no criminal record as such - I may have had a caution 15 years ago for criminal damage (possibly) but to be honest I can't even remember if it was official and not that I suppose it matters I wasn't really involved, I was just too young and daft to think about it at the time. I also have tattoos on my upper arms, chest and back, although nothing provocative or garish.

The question is this - is it achievable for someone in my current situation, and what is the best access route? I have a colleague who's partner has just completed her first year of PCSO with a view to becoming a full PC after shes completed her first 2 years. Is this a viable option or would it be best to apply direct for PC when the local forces are recruiting.

That poses another question - I grew up in N.Wales and Cheshire but now live on the Wirral. I don't know which force would be best to apply to and am conscious of the fact that you are limited to the applications you can make.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks for reading :)
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The criminal damage caution is unlikely to cause you an issue being so long ago, but make sure that you declare it on any vetting application with as much detail as you can remember.

Tattoos vary by force about how strict they are. You may need to send photos to HR as part of any recruitment process.

As for the best route, the police recruitment process is different to most other industries in regard of the competencies they look for and how they assess that. The best way to understand these processes is to know what they're after and you only really get an appreciation of this from the inside. Many people do become PCSOs or Specials before becoming a PC, obviously, if you have the spare time, a Special is doing the role of a PC, a PCSO has a different job. The advantage of being a Special is that you really get to know if you can do the job full time. It's not easy and certainly not for everyone, even people who were at first set on the idea.

Most of Hampshire's student PCs for this year are internal applicants - PCSOs, Specials, and other staff are about 85% of the people accepted.
 
Jacksonn said:
Well that's AC passed, very happy with passing on my first go. Now for the vetting, shouldn't be an issue always been a good boy aha.

I know the answer to this will probably be "how longs a piece of string", but for people like Squirrel who have been through it recently, whats the timescale for vetting?
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Vetting can really vary depending on force and the vetting unit's workload. Some forces outsource this to neighbouring forces. Can range from 1 to 3+ months.
 
ScarySquirrel said:
Nice one!

I'm 6 shifts in, loving it so far but my tutor is only a basic driver (like me) so we can't even go on blue lights to calls. I feel like I'm missing out as we aren't taking many immediate calls and if we do go to them we're last on scene so it's not really good for my development. I'm going to bring it up with the PDU team at my first review next week.
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I'm finally likely to get a response course in the next 3 months. 3 weeks and 3 days long. Used to just be 3 weeks but they've added extra days, not sure if they've rolled up the initial pursuit into it or just lengthened the standard national course
 
Dis86 said:
Burnsy, is there honestly any point in those courses? Up here both Northumbria and Cleveland basically don't pursue any more because they're that **** scared about being sued. It's absolutely pathetic.

If you want to commit a crime do it on a scooter/bike and don't wear a helmet or if the police look like they're getting close, take it off.

I know this is a daily fail link but it highlights the point;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-lets-motorbike-crooks-away-die-fall-off.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32904622

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38294358
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To be honest, pursuits are rare here anyway for most normal response cops. I may never actually use that part, but the bulk of the course is response driving which will get used all the time.

redrabbit29 said:
I'm actually surprised they're still teaching pursuit driving to standard response drivers.
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It's a bit more common sense in Hampshire, but due to the nature of the road network here, there are plenty of trunk roads for traffic or other advanced drivers to take over fairly quickly. Either that, or whatever we're following disappears from a 2l diesel fairly easily.
 
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opethdisciple said:
I was actually thinking about this on my way home from work. Thank god for bobbies but what is the attraction about the job?

I mean your intentionally looking to come in to contact with criminals, loonies and people out to cause trouble.

Why not just look for a different career path, one safer and less dangerous!
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There's a certain job satisfaction from it though. I went to deal with a creeper burglary. It was really good to sit down and give a vulnerable and elderly victim a really great service. She lived alone and was hard of hearing. Someone had entered her home by an insecure conservatory and then broken an internal door. The poor lady didn't hear a thing but cash was stolen from her handbag. I was amazed that she refused to be intimidated by this and was someone very interesting to talk to. Turns out she was 94 and I'd be very happy if I was as mobile and on the ball as she was. She was a pleasure to meet.

The burglary was part of a series and the forensics that we recovered from my job found a suspect who was subsequently arrested and charged for loads of linked burglaries.

It's jobs like those that make it worth it.
 
TNGL said:
So presumably, if my Dad was to refuse to give me any more information on whatever convictions he has, I would then have to state this? What if a member of the family has a conviction (or if say, my Dad, has other convictions) that I do not know about or have not been told about? My Mum and Dad have been separated for some time and I visit fairly infrequently and so it is quite possible that I would not be aware of certain things, especially those which are embarrassing.

I know I am getting ahead of myself here, however, I do want to make sure I'm well-prepared if I do make it to the vetting stage and what sort of conversations I should be having with family in advance.
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Disclose everything you know and state what you don't. Vetting doesn't expect you to know everything and generally understand some family or friends don't like elaborating.

TNGL said:
3) My girlfriend, despite coming from a family with a few high ranking police officers, is against the idea due to the dangers involved. As part of vetting (again, if I were to reach that stage), I am assuming I will have to give details of her and her parents. What would happen if she decided to not give me the required information relating to her parents (e.g. their DOBs)?
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How against you joining is she? How committed to the relationship are you? Being an SC will disrupt you life and your relationships - you need understanding friends and family to make it work. The advertise that the minimum commitment is 16 hours per month, but during your non-independence phase you really need to do more, closer to 25-30 hours per month. It's a steep learning curve and 16 hours barely allows you to prevent skills fade. On top of that, you will see some ****** up stuff and having a support network is really important for your MH.

Its just worth making sure you know what you're getting yourself in for, it's not for everyone.
 
TNGL said:
I've been able to speak to a friend and a mutual friend who both work for the MPS as full-time officers and they've given me a good insight. It is definitely something I would love to get involved in and if it paid more money, I would ditch my job in the City and apply to be a full-time officer. I hate being stuck behind a desk but it is what it is.
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I think there's a point where unless you're going through direct entry, the salary is a blocker. I imagine going from your city salary to a probationer may be prohibitive unless you're particularly financially secure. I love policing, I've spent a lot of time doing it (as you can probably tell by the fact I started this thread over a decade ago) but I've got the point where I don't think I'd want to do it full time. I think there's just too many cultural and organisational issues that would frustrate me. I didn't really come to that conclusion until I had a few years experience, so it's more complicated than many people assume. With that said, I think all bar one of the people I trained with are either regulars or have since resigned so it's clearly worked for those who joined and are still in the job.
 
Rossi~ said:
@Burnsy2023
What kind of incident and/or how serious of an incident warrants a police helicopter to be at the scene for about an hour? They're not cheap after all.

Woken up last night at about midnight with one hovering right by my house with a spotlight (far brighter than i'd imagined btw) on a location up a track/field. A police car left and two more arrived, the helicopter left and another came back for a while. All seemed rather exciting. Come to think of it, there were no sirens..
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Could be any number of things:
  • High risk missing person. Helicopter required to search large open area by the Police Search Advisor (PolSA) as it's hugely labour intensive using people. Large country parks, fields etc
  • Searching for suspects from a serious offence such as robbery, burglary, etc who have decamped from a vehicle.
  • Weapon incident such as firearm or knife.
  • Seige or someone barricaded into a building.
  • Observation of a large public order incident - unlikely here but worth knowing.
Mispers tend to be the most common.
 
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