Joining the Police

[Wossi]

So for the past few years I've been toying with the idea of joining the Police. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of serving officers here so wondering if you could give me a few pointer please.

Obviously you need to be fit but how fit are we actually talking here?

What kind of timeframe would I be looking from putting my application in to them contacting me then arranging a date to go in?

Also, if you do serve, how much do you currently enjoy it?

Thanks

Dave

[Roberta]

Rozzers? Here?

*legs it*

[MarcLister]

Let's be 'aving you!

[Justsomebloke]

;D
Another mate as a Copper that would be great :cool:
Good luck with it, I'm off now before our local BD rozzers turn up ;)

[Pebs]

Filthy pigs!

[Justsomebloke]

^^ IT'S ON TOP LEG IT !!!!!

Come on Pebs sort him out some Blue advise ;)

[SidewinderINC]

Filthy pigs!

Some of them are filthier than others I've heard :shocked::evil:

[Desmo]

no Pebs, not THAT kind of blue advice ;)

[Wossi]

no Pebs, not THAT kind of blue advice ;)

Why do I get the feeling that if it was THAT kind of blue advice, I wouldn't be innocent anymore? :p

[Pebs]

:D

Well, there's another proper bona fide real mccoy all singing all dancing licenced to gas and drop at will policeman here, I've still got very large L plates, but I can let you know what happened in my case if that'll help :)

I sent off my application in November 06 with a recruitment closing date of February. Expect to take your time with the application form, most people get dropped at this stage. Within a couple of months I'd heard that I had been passed to go through to the Assessment centre, which is a fairly intensive 6 hour session of written tests, maths test, role plays, verbal reasoning and interviews. You will be sent through a large information pack which you MUST memorise, it'll be vital for the role plays. Lots of forces have dropped the pass mark for this now, most are 50% but some are still at 60% which is what I had to get. If I can, anyone can!

So, if you get past the AC you'll go onto the fitness test. It's 'easy' but I had to do a lot of work at the gym to do it. That said I was an unfit pudd'n!! You have to do a bleep test to level 5.4 (you can download it from West Yorkshires recruitment page I think). We were told that no male had failed at this level for over 3 years...I can't imagine you'll struggle. You also do a push/pull test where you have to average 34kgs each way. Again, your average fitness woman can do this so it should be a breeze. Some forces have a swimming test (devon and cornwall I think) and a couple have an assault course type thing. Scottish forces will expect you to be fit as a flea!

So, you pass that then it's the medical, you need to have reasonable eyesight and reasonable hearing, be able to breathe properly and not give a pee test full of cocaine ;) Some forces then have a final interview with a panel of senior officers from that force. I didn't have to do this :)

If you get past that, you're pretty much in, they'll check references, check you're not Osama Bin Ladens secret love child and thats it! You play the waiting game for an offer of employment. For me the whole process took 6 months from February but Essex are very very quick. Friends of mine in Yorkshire and D&C are still waiting for a start date having passed all the stages and they did their A/C the same time as I did!

Then, you'll bundle off to training school for a between 12 and 34 weeks I think it is! Essex does 20 weeks (I'm at week 12 atm), then 10 weeks out on what they call PDU where you go out into the general masses but with a tutor constable to hold your hand, then after that you're independant and you're on your own!

Start pay is OK....21K plus 2k extra if you're in the home counties or 6k extra for the Mets. That goes up after you finish your PDU and again after your two years probation. Shifts seem to vary from ok (6 on 4 off...I'm going onto this, woot!) to ****e (7 on 2 off). Beyond that, I havent a clue! :) Anything else you need to know, yell! If you're lucky the real one will answer ;)

[JUMPURS]

Caught by the fuzz,
Well i was still on a buzz

[Not by the fuzz fuzz, pebs i am looking at you and your dirty mind!]

[Pebs]

Caught by the fuzz,
Well i was still on a buzz

[Not by the fuzz fuzz, pebs i am looking at you and your dirty mind!]

What have I done to deserve this reputation?!?!?!?!?! Outrageous!!

edit - Ahhhh....just realised who you are. Don't answer that!!! :p

[JUMPURS]

Whoops, sorry i forgot i have my other name on here :)

[Wossi]

:D

helpful stuff



Thanks for some insider information, might have to take up some running/jogging to bump up my fitness. I'm not unfit, but I'm not the fittest person there is. The 34kg push pull thing shouldn't be a problem, for the past week I've been moving 30 kg boxes around at work (even though I'm technically a sale rep).

It's the waiting that will kill me, I hate having to wait for anything and I'm sure I've read somewhere that with some forces it can be up to a year wait :( I just hope my boss is understanding, otherwise I'll have to get a filler job.

[Pebs]

The only way to deal with it is get on with your life, other wise you'll go mental. You're told not to hand your notice in until you get your final offer so there's not a lot else to do other than wait.

What force will you go for?

[Wossi]

I wanted Leicestershire as it's where I live, but as they are not recruiting I'm thinking of possibly Northampton, there's not many recruiting at the moment.

[Pheebs]

Reading this thread has made me want to rejoin.

Boo.

Will wait and see what business does first :) If that goes flop I'll definitely be handing in my apps :)

[karbon]

it's something i've been thinking of for a few years now as well.

need to get my lobes stitched though which would be fun. and loose all (well....almost) of my piercings which would make me sad for a bit. can make up for it in tatttoos though suppose.

strathclyde seem to be constantly recruiting for the last few years. the fitness test may however kill me.

[Von Smallhausen]

My application went in December 1999 and I started May 2000.

The fitness test was quite hard when I joined and the bleep test for males was level 9 and females had to do 7. That included sit ups, press ups and diving to retrieve a rubber brick from the bottom of a 10 feet deep pool after swimming 50 meters or something. The fitness test for most forces has been downgraded to level 5.5 for the bleep. It is not difficult to pass. I have to pass 5.4 everytime I have a refresher course for MOE training.

I then had to do an assessment day in front of an Inspector and other officers where you were set tasks etc and were monitored at every stage. You also had to pick up a card and talk for two minutes on the subject ad lib. I got joy riding. six of us started the day and two finished, myself and another lass ( who I went in to join up with ) and I had an interview with the Inspector and two PCs. I later got to know one of the PCs ( now a sergeant ) who said she didn't want to put me through but was overuled by the Inspector. :D

I was then invited back for a final interview in front of a Superintendent, Inspector and Sergeant. I had spent hours researching so I was pretty much able to answer everything they threw at me but it was quite an informal interview. I was then kicked out for 10 minutes while they talked about me behind my back and I was accepted.

The medical exam went well ..... until I failed the hearing test and very nearly didn't get accepted and had to gfo back a week later where I just got through ( ear may be damaged by gunshots etc as I used to shoot when I was younger ). It is only noticeable in the little booth though.

After security checks and vetting and then siging the Official Secrets Act I was accepted.

I then did 2 weeks introductory, 15 weeks national training, 2 weeks pre-street and then 10 weeks with a tutor on the street. I then went back for a couple of other courses and fitness tests during my two years probabation.

Policing is not for everyone it has to be said. I went from someone who had no enemies to having many purely by the unifrom that I wear. 3 weeks out of training school I went with my tutor to HMP Durham to produce a prisoner to charge with an offence. While in the main yard waiting to go into the reception block people were throwing things out of window shouting ' ******* BLACK ********. ' PIGS ' and suggesting sexual desires that I will not repeat. Frightening the first time but you do get used to it.

Also, you see many things that the public do not and that includes death and injury on a regular basis. Some deaths are natural and simple to deal with, some may be where someone has been dead for weeks or months and it is not pleasant. I know of a job where the body had been in a house for 6 months and even hardened detectives were running out retching. Not pleasant. ( have some Vicks handy to put below your nose if you do get in )

You will also see injuries and incidents that are nasty and you need to be able to make a decision and deal with what you see. Even if that means a tactical withdrawal for your own safety. I have turned up at a funeral wake that spilled into fighting. 4 cops turned out to see 40-50 people fighting. We told comms to get cars from wherever but we need help now. I was at one point toe to toe with the resident hard man whop was up a height. He said ' I could smash you into the ground young 'un ' I told him he would have to do that to get past to get to others he wanted to battle with. He could have done what he said and done it easily but you sometime have to fight aggression with aggression although good communication is always your best weapon. I also remeber being confronted by 6 lads on a nightshift who wanted trouble. One said ' Here, we could kick **** out of you now like. ' I said ' There are 6 of yous and one of me. I'm going to get beat but at least two of you are coming down with me. Who is it ? ' I looked at them all and drew my baton but didn't extend it. It worked and they walked off. I likely would have not gotten a dig in with 6 lads and would have had seven bells kicked out of me but you have to be able to think on your feet.

The job is bogged by beaurocracy and paperwork and that is what I hate about it. You spend more time processing forms than you do on the street.

As for the job itself, I enjoy it in the main. Real job satisfaction sometimes and you help far more people that you piss off. People who zip on the body armour for the first time and think they are Robocop soon learn how the world turns. People who use their head and speak to people in the right manner, even under difficult circumstances, often get the job done far better.

[MarcLister]

You have to sign the Official Secrets Act to be a copper?

[Von Smallhausen]

You have to sign the Official Secrets Act to be a copper?

You are bound by it as a condition of service.

[Wossi]

Thanks for the reply Von, I know policing isn't for anyone, but I feel it's something I would like to do and if I don't like for one reason or other then at least I can say that I tried. Although I would rather I did like it.

I am tempted to pop along to the main station and have a chat with them first.

[Pebs]

I have to say training school is hard. A lot of it isn't brain surgery but getting your head around all the nuances of British legislation is difficult and you don't have time to absorb the info. You have to do a lot of self teaching and you literally have a day to learn a topic and whooosh, you're onto the next one. There's also painful amounts of PCness to adhere to and rules and regs to learn and adapt to. On the plus side you really feel part of a team, the senior peeps are totally on your side and a lot of it is a bloody good laugh! The initial honeymoon love-in that groups of people inevitably go through in these situations has worn off for us now but on the whole you'll make fantastic friends. It's not for everyone, a couple of people are questioning their decision to join and I have to admit that I'm one. It's a daunting job on many levels and at the moment to me it all seems very very overwhelming. But once upon a time I didn't think I'd be able to drive a car without having to think through every manouevre so...;)

On the plus side, yesterday for the very first time I wasn't overwhelmed with terror at the thought of TWO MONTHS till I'm out! I had a brief feeling of bring it on. I think I'm coming down with something ;)