Hi

Im looking to join the police. They are not taking on for a few months so i wanted to do things to make me stand out from the crowd. Im going start on my fitness soon, joining a thai kickboxing club for self defense, improve fitness and some jogging, the gym too. I wanted to voluteer at a homeless shelter to gain 'life experience' as a friend a few years ago was refused for this reason. Anyone have any tips for me on anything to do with the subject? Spoke to some local bobbies recently who were encouraging. I did law at a level so i can brush up on my legal knowledge p.a.c.e etc. As to the fitness i could always do with losing a stone or two lol.

Louise

Hi hubby is in the police and just asked him he said, you need to pass 4.2 on the bleep, dynamic grip, and a push pull test. Basically anything that involves difficult situations dealing with the public. He said go on your local police forces website and keep up to date on or with ongoing issues. In which county do you live if you want to say ??

PM me..

I did 6.4 at school, few would have died if it was more than that! im in Lancashire, been on the site few times. Had a general read and answered the little questionnaires they have. I had a scoliosis (curvature of the spine) correction in 2003, which means i have metal rods in my spine so i cannot bend afew vertibrae. Obviously i can still touch my toes and things and it doesnt affect me apart from horse-riding. Would that affect my chances?

He said that you would have to declare obviously the scoliosis at the time, and then it's down to each particular police force weather they decide etc.  Each police force is the same at in the 4.2 bleep so sounds like you wouldnt have a problem with that

Ask him if volunteering or anything like that would help me, also should i start training fitness wise now. Im not quite sure what to expect from the application process even though ive read info several times.

> I had a scoliosis

If it really doesn't affect your general mobility probably not. I know people with many different problems and they are still in the job, you must declare any health problems you have as well. What they have to look at is that you can do your job and not put your life and others at risk due to any health problems. Only you can answer this, but at the same time there should be nothing stopping you giving this a go if this is what you want, you've lost nothing from trying. I know people who have tried 4-5 times before getting in.
You looking to join GMP?

> should i start training fitness wise now

Yes being in great shape is always a good thing and making sure your upper body strength is good as well. We aren't talking about being a power house, it does help but i'm not strong at all and i managed to pass the tests.

He said yes volunteering etc wont do any harm, it's all about "life" skills etc in this day and age. Regards fitness he said you dont have to be super fit but staying at the level of fitness that you appear to be at would be fine, because if you done 6.4 at school then that sounds more than enought to pass the 4.2 bleep. Declare the health issues and you should be fine. Just ring Lancashire Police's recruitment department and they'll know what their forces requiremnts are and put your mind at rest, and will be happy to answer any questions he said (hopefully), he said that's what they are there for

Think you are tackling this from the right angle, my nephew has just been accepted for the Met police and he did much as you are suggesting, top up his fitness, made himself aware of current issues and took another look at the work he did during his last year at school doing a bit of cramming to wake the mind up.

Good luck and I hope you get into the choosen force and enjoy your new career.

Hi Louise,

I'm a member (on the Instructor team) of http://www.ukpoliceonline.co.uk Moderators are officers from all the forces (mod plod, BTP etc etc) You can join (with limited access to some areas) as a civilian and there are specific forums for advice on assessment day/ interviews/ fitness/ the role plays etc etc.
    The joy of it, is members are from all the Forces so you will get specific info and tips on the force you're joining by officers/instructors and fellow recruits.
    http://www.couldyoupolice.co.uk has the core competencies for which you should build your evidence around.

Good Luck... and be yourself!

Oh Jackie,

You'll have to pm me when he starts at Hendon I'll look out for him, I'll be teaching him in his week 2 :)

Thanks for the Forum link, it looks fab. Ive just registered and im having a quick browse through. So the application process is online never knew that. I know my accent can come across in my written english so i must be careful lol! So i suppose i just keep my eye on the lancashire constabulary website then? or should i give them a quick ring after the easter hols.

Louise

The first website i belong to and i used to be hooked on it, maybe i should take a peek to have a little look what i may be missing.. Though saying that i try and keep my home life as separate as possible.

Not sure if they are doing the 'interblue' type courses any more. They were worth going on as they went through your examples of your competencies and say whether they are a good example or not, if so they will go through how they should be written up on the application form.
Role plays they go through how the plan them out and follow a guideline as well, that proved very handy for me.
It was a whole day on how to get into the Police run by an ex copper from TVP.

No ignore that i'm not part of that forum, it must be another Policey one..

Good luck Louise :) try and see if you can get an idea about the actual application....when I joined my force 13 years ago it was fairly straight forward, but on speaking with my new neighbours, their daughter tried joining recently and it sounds like they've introduced some interesting questions....like...discuss something you've done which you are really proud of...discuss a problem you have encountered and how you overcame it.... etc etc

with these there's no right or wrong answer, but they can mean the difference between being accepted and not

fingers crossed for you :)

I will have a chat with my son to see what sort of advice he has been given by his college lecturers, as he is currently studying a Public Service course, with a view to joining the Police. We are also in Lancashire, but he has been told that it is one of the hardest forces to get into and that it might be worth him applying to GMP or Merseyside. Do you have a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in your area. Matthew is just in the process of becoming our Neighbourhood Watch Co-Ordinator. It seems a great way of making contacts within the Force, and he has been invited to join something called PACT (Police and Citizens Against Crime) which will entail him going along to meetings on a monthly basis to discuss current issues within our local community. I know he has been advised to take his Duke of Edinburgh Awards as they are looked upon very favourably and the application form now has a question dedicated to the Awards.

I would join the Specials...my Son has worked for Warwickshire Police since he left school! He started in Admin, went into the Specials, then got a Front Office job, then applied and joined full time 18 months ago. It was something he always wanted to do...his Father was a Police Officer...

Jeez... only a 4.2 to get in! I have just done my fitness test for the Aus police and we had to get 7.1 absolute minimum! My ex was a cop in the MET and the last time we checked there was about a year waiting list to get in... I don't know if this would apply to your area, but definitely try and find out a time scale so that you can plan your life a little bit. As said previously, a high level of fitness would be preferable- if you can get to be running 5km (3.1miles) in under 30 minutes then you are doing well. You should also be training weights esp on your upper body... the push/pull test isn't as easy as it looks and I trained seriously hard for it. Lots of police push ups, back and shoulder weights (I would be doing 3x 15reps per exercise) just so that your body is used to using those muscles. The beep test is a great way of guaging your fitness progress- I would be doing one a week so that you feel super comfortable when it comes up on the day.

Look out for psychometric tests on the internet and also in the library. I would personally buy some psychometric work books that run you through things like spelling, basic maths etc etc. You would be surprised how many things you forget from school. I know guys who have failed their entrance tests just by forgetting how to do basic maths... pretty disappointing for them as you can imagine.

The way I approached my application was to be better than all the other girls that applied. You will always get the giggly idiots who are just there to see what it's all about... let them get on with it and don't be associated with their nonsense. If you can smash the other girls in the fitness you are half way there. Then you just need to come across as sensible, level headed and honest in your interviews. Practice interviews with your mates... they are going to make you do role plays and things like that on the day.

Best of luck with your application.... I hope some of this is useful :-)

Husky Girl I think it's too late, he is due for his "comming out" parade about August, so I think you may have had him not long ago.

> I would join the Specials

That is a great help as you have the same powers as a PC, also a lot of PCSO'S move on up through and this generally helps them. Our recent intake is all PCSO'S and specials and no actual civvies, so we are hoping that this intake are going to be very special as they know the job already.

Liv do you train Kent Police as well? My son is switching from Customs - anti drug smuggling at Gatwick- to Kent police and starts his training at the end of May.

> "comming out" parade

lol....... "passing out" ;) (We are a diverse Force though!)

> Liv do you train Kent Police as well?

No, Im with the Met. (Live in Kent) That's a shame!
  We have a couple of our friends who transfered to Kent and they enjoy it, I walk Storm with one of their Dog handlers (Very embarrassing Storm has fallen in love with a big male GSD!... I give up.)

> starts his training at the end of May.

Good luck to your son, what part of Kent is he going to be training in? I guess not too far away from the Sussex border with him currently working at Gatwick?

> Storm has fallen in love with a big male GSD

I can see visions of this.. Lol..

You're lucky you can do this, all the handlers i know have said their GSD's are not good with other dogs..
Though they are complete sooks when i play with them in the back yard at work..

> when he starts at Hendon

Is just around the corner from where I live, what joy I used to have when young and fancy free watching them l pass out in uniform, or on weekend leave on a Friday :-)

Good luck to your son, what part of Kent is he going to be training in? I guess not too far away from the Sussex border with him currently working at Gatwick?

He starts his initial training at Maidstone. Although he is a customs officer at Gatwick he travels up each day from East Kent where he lives, except for when he is on night duty and then he stays with a colleague.

He has been a special for about 5 years now and this is the third time he has been accepted to join the force but has turned it down on two previous occasions. He really loves his work with customs but is not keen on all the changes that are happening at the moment. They joined forces with HM Revenue 2(?) years ago and that didn't work out so the government are dissolving that alliance and they are now joining up with Immigration to become Immigration and Border Control. Lots of political stuff going on and he has decided he has had enough of it all now and has accepted his offer with the police. That wasn't straight forward though because he has to have 12 weeks clear of any commitments to start the training and his start date has been put off 4 times now as he has  court cases for Customs and has to attend and the police won't take him until they are all out of the way. The problem then being that the longer he stays at Customs the more arrests he makes and so the circle continues :-)

Ive had a look and there are vacancies in Lancashire for specials so ill ring the recruitment line in the morning or should i wait til tuesday with it being bank holiday. Watching street crime uk now lol.

Recruitment won't be in on a bank holiday, maybe worth you calling anyway, may have an answering machine msg system set up.

Street crime is more like what we do, the old traffic wars and police interceptors would be great fun, but takes many years before you can head down that route.. Thats where my heart lays should i decide to stay in the job. There are still targets to meet as well whatever unit you're in.

Am I right in thinking that you will not be allowed to join if you live with someone or have someone with a criminal record in your family?

Gwerty,

It does all depend on what kind of criminal record, if it was theft x 1 when say your parents were a teen then prob not, if they are very recently known then possibly would have an impact.
A friend of mine joined the same time as me, his flat mate was known and he was allowed to join but was told that said flat mate was to move out or he had to find somewhere else. It worked out fine, friend moved back in with his mum and i don't think he has any friendship with the ex flat mate as it could cause problems for his career.

Saying that i'm sure that others i work with have parents or other relatives which are known but they keep a distance and don't live or really see them. It does all depend on what you think is important and where your morals lay. But the one thing is if they ask in the application form, never ever lie as you'll be found out and then you won't get in ever.

Specials would be good to try and join, I was a special con for 10 years that's how i met hubby who is in the police, had to give up when i had my 3 kids. You have all the powers and would learn alot about "life" dealings. My hubby was in the specials and worked his way up to chief inspector in the specials, so it does do you good. Put it this way it won't do any harm and will look good that you are doing it in effect for free !

Hi, thanks for the reply. Its my brother who has been in trouble. He is in prison now for quite a serious offence(6yrs)-he didnt do it but I wont get into that one!-the fact is he was convicted. I always wanted to join the force but assumed it would be a no no instantly. I havnt lived with him since i was at home with my parents(6yrs)
Is there anyway I can find out without going through the application process?

Give them a call to speak about it. 

Hi Louise

I'm in the Police Training Dept. as support staff :-)  Small world eh.  Best way into the Police is through the Special Constable route.  Sounds like the bleep test is very low for the Force you wish to join, ours is much higher, 7 point something for women.  It is now "discrimination" for a Force to turn down people because they don't have life experience, at least in Scotland it is, we just aren't allowed to do it.  (This might have been a recruitment tactic though as we now have a lot of school leavers).  Our website has lots of recruitment information on it, but then so should your local Force.  My friend joined Strathclyde Police recently, along with her husband, and was running 15 miles a day to ensure she got in.

Good luck in your chosen career, it's not something I would do :-)

Qwerty, if you can prove you are not associated with your brother and you declare it in writing, you should not have a problem.  But they will want your assurance that you will not abuse their computer systems to seek out information relating to him etc - that's what they would be worried about.

I have downloaded an application form for a special constable. Im filling it out now, done most of it without any hastle. Just got to take a pic of the tribal squiggle of regret on my back lol. Its not too bad but its not done fabulously and its faded a little now, would have preferred something else, but i wanted it back then.

I have one referee a doctor friend (if she says yes). Trying to think of someone else i have known for 5 years and am still in regular contact with, i havent stayed in touch with school friends so ill have to think hard. A full page of space asking for other activites that i have been involved in including activities relevant to support my application!!! i can think of one which was volunteering for the horse and pony protection assosciation H.A.P.P.A for anyone that knows of them. It was a fund raising open day and i face painted for the kids, so was working with kids and their parents, thats all i can think of. I havent passed my driving test yet but i am very close to passing it, im having to start them up again having moved from lincoln where i was ready to put in for my test about a month ago, so a few more lessons and ill put in for it. Hopefully ill pass this time.

Im learning italian but only just started with my rosetta stone stuff, I clean at my nannas old folks place sometimes. See i really want to do some community work, if anyone knows how i can find a homeless shelter soup kitchen type thing in Burnley Lancashire (or therabouts baring in mind i dont drive but can rely on buses, trains etc), id be very greatful. There is what is known as a Brunshaw action group in the slightly rougher area near me. I suppose i could look into the neighbourhood watch scheme around here too, we have a sticker in the window but thats as much as i know about it.

In 250 words why i want to become a special cons, well i want to be a P.O and since your not taking on at present id like to gain experience and knowledge of what its like working in the 'force'. Also whilst working as a S.C i could stand a better chance of being accepted when your recruiting later on in the year, as i would hopefully have a basic understanding, and a foundation of what police do withing the community. Then a little bit about why i would like to be in the police, job satisfaction, pay and benefits, job security!!, interesting job, protecting the innocent and my community, providing myself with a career and so on....

then What can i expect from being a special?: just what my research has told me i suppose. working the beat on the street, takling ASB. Knowledge, understanding, and experience. Also i would get to find out whether the job is definately for me. First hand experience of the role of a P.O, what duties the job entails and things im likely to come across in that field of work.

Any tips, and is the application form for a special similar to the P.O

Thanks Louise

Personally, I would not say I was applying to the Specials because the Police are not recruiting at present but would deal with it entirely as an application to the Specials.  I would imagine the panel will be interested in filling these positions with people who have a genuine interest in contributing to their community, helping to uphold law and order etc so I think you should be expressing that in your application.

Hey, thats a long post!!

Great that you have the application form. I would not mention either about regulars not recruiting right now but mention its something you are very interested in in the future. Go on about how you want to help in the community and being a volunteer as such is how you feel would be good for you and giving something back to the area you live in. If you can PM me or post the actual questions you've been asked(unless i've misread you post) and we can help with ideas in what you need to cover.
One major issue is race and diversity and you need to cover that in one of your answers making sure that give an example when you dealt with a person/groups of people of a different background/culture etc than yours and what you did etc etc.
Hope this makes sense, i'll try and dig out my original application form and guidebook on how to fill out the form and then we can go from there.

Sue

They use the same application form for SPC and PC :-)  Suejaw has covered most things.  As you don't drive you might want to check the recruitment requirements as a full driving license might be one of them - I know of several Officers who fully believe in only employing officers who can drive, but for the main reason that you are likely not to be posted in the community you live for safety purposes.

Don't worry about the tatoo - many folk from the forces have been joining the Police since Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years and have tatoos all over :-)  Speaking a foreign language will stand you in very good stead.  One more thing, if ever in doubt, declair it on the form. 

And one final but very important thing, and this might shock you ;-)  Are you a member of any social networking sites?  Please ensure that if you do have any that there are no pictures of drunken revellry and that there is nothing that you would not want an employer or potential employer to see - these are all vetted for new applicants, even support staff.  People have failed the initial vetting purely on their bebo page etc - and 1 current member of staff I know of has been disciplined.

Indecent exposure on a drunken night out lol, just my bra though lol! Ill remove that.

While applying to be a special have you found http://www.policespecials.com/forum

Might be good to give you a little more insight.  The forum is full of specials from all different areas.

In addition to networking sites, have a look through anything you may of posted, or any groups within these sites that you belong to. Someone in our force had posted something on his site and got fired due to this.
Facebook is a huge one, some of my colleagues have placed the force we work on as their network, this i have removed from mine, don't really think everyone needs to know this information, especially in the job that we do.

I also work in the same area i live in and have always lived in, never been a problem and they tend to like people to live within a short walking distance or drive for your posting as well. Each force is different though so just because something is ok down my way, it may not be up your way if you catch my drift.

Give me a PM over the next few days to remind me to pull out my files to help you making you have an awesome application form completed, this can and should also be run past GCG and HG.

> pay and benefits, job security

can read that your just looking for a decent pay and a 'job for life'

I would go fairly low key on ANY application form on these but emphasise the 'job satisfaction, interesting job, protecting the innocent and my community, providing myself with a career' stuff.
Just a thought, Chris

a thought Re: Netwrok sites.

Make sure your profiles are only open to be viewed by friends only and not open to the public.  This way it's not so easy for people to check up on you.

I woudl have though that going into this sort of career you don't want it know by anyone and everyone what you are doing. 

However best of luck with your application.  Hope you do well.