PCSOs

This current government's insistence that forces recruit PCSOs rather than police officers is not popular within the ranks - it is seen as a 'dumbing down' or a weakening of the police. After all, PCSOs are not trained or empowered to the same degree as officers, and starting salaries for PCSOs are only marginally less that those of PCs. This may gradually change. There are suggestions that PCSOs may be given powers of arrest, batons and CS sprays. The original proposal that they operate as the eyes and ears of the police is being altered to provide police on the cheap - except they're not really that cheap. Certainly they are not recruited or trained to the same standards as PCs, so cost savings are made there...

It is possible that the unstated goal is to create a three-tiered European system of law enforcement - a national body for investigating serious and organized crime, regional forces to deal with other offences and local teams of uniformed officers to patrol the streets.

Training

Until recently, it was normal for all new recruits to spend several months at a police training college. These were run in a military style - parades, inspections etc. They taught all a new recruit needed to know in theory - but with no practice. The new thinking is that training can be better provided on the job, with shorter stints of classroom-based theory backed up with practical experience on the street. This may also work out cheaper for the individual forces when compared to months of residential training via Centrex. I understand that the basic Police Training College course costs forces around £25,000 per officer. Non-residential training puts more uniforms on the streets too - never a bad thing given the shortages of officers. I'm missing out on a long tradition that accompanies the police colleges - things like passing out parades were scrapped a couple of years ago. I would imagine it is all part of a move away from a more formal, military-style police 'force' to a less formal, civilian police 'service'. For example, senior officers (inspectors and above) are addressed as 'sir' or 'ma'am' - it wouldn't surprise me to learn that these might be phased out (though I’ve not had any indication that this might happen).

The Recruitment Process and Other Trials

So I quit my job, sold my sports car and got a temping job – I’d been told it was a six month recruiting process… oh dear. Now, two years on, I’m only just about to start my training. The reason for this? There are a few. I decided to apply just as a massive national campaign was in full swing, swelling applicant numbers significantly. Additionally the force I’m joining will accept everyone who meets the national admission standards, whereas many other forces cherry-pick the top candidates in any given campaign. Furthermore, Centrex (the recruitment and training organisation for the police) revised the selection process to give a much better quality of candidate overall, meaning many more decent candidates got through. The result? I will end up temping for two years in total, plus I miss out on the decent pension scheme by 3 DAYS! This last part is the fault of a former employer, a multinational so inept that something as simple as an employment reference took them ten weeks to generate. No wonder they are closing offices left, right and centre, what a total shower of bastards. Oh well…

More Info on this site

I spent a great deal of time researching what life as a police officer involved prior to my decision to apply. From speaking to numerous serving officers on a regualr basis, I discovered that it is both very rewarding and equally frustrating.

I hope to offer a detailed insight of what is involved in police work, what the journalists and documentary makers often don’t have access to, don’t have time to broadcast or space to print. I aim to give a detailed and continuously updated account of what police officers do each day. By starting this website before I begin my training. I also intend to give an overview of the recruitment process and the new training system. I’m on the first intake for my force of non-residential training – rather than spending months on a residential training course at a police training college. Instead I will spend forty-two weeks at my local university, out of uniform, learning the basics, interspersed with two-week periods on the streets accompanied by a tutor constable. There will also be a number of community placements lasting two weeks each, focusing on diversity.

Why become a police officer?

Ever sit at your desk wondering what the f*^k you’re doing at 2.50 on a wet Tuesday afternoon? Ever flick through the paper and feel your head pound and your blood boil as you read about the latest mugging/rape/murder just down the road? I did, for years. When I left university, I knew I didn’t want an office job. After spending my teens gearing up for a career in the RAF, only to be let down by my dodgy hearing (not quite good enough to be a pilot) I considered the police, but put it aside thinking I should do what my peers were doing and chase the money. An exhausting five years on, having slogged my guts out 60 hours a week (yes, really) for a faceless multinational whose annual profits outstrip most developing countries’ GDP, I decided I really wasn’t interested in the money anymore.

I’m not under the illusion that I’ll become a hero, I pay no attention to many portrayals of police work being glamourous. I’m not out to get my own back at the world, but damn it, I certainly do want to see more justice in this country. I know I’ve let myself in for an often unpleasant, frequently thankless twenty-five-year slog. However, it should also be constantly varying, frequently exciting, and most importantly very interesting. If I’ve got to spend the next 25 years working like a bastard for something, it might as well be something truly worthwhile, rather than a never-ending cycle aimed squarely at the bottom line or my bank statement. I’m not an idealist; I’m very pragmatic and just cynical enough to be able to see the advantages and disadvantages of this career.

Call me a mug if you will, but someone’s got to do it, and I think most people don’t have the guts to step up and take the responsibility.