Police application assistance please

[AndrewEH1]

Red 4 said:

When I joined (many years ago) we were taken to see post mortems at the hospital mortuary during training. It was pretty gory stuff. Brains, hearts, livers, kidneys, etc. being removed. The reason for being shown this was to prepare you for what you may see.

I've seen some horrific sights. Seeing a crime scene is very different to the sterile/ medical environment of a mortuary. It is much more of a "personal" experience if you see what I mean.

Strong stomach is one thing. Dealing with peoples emotions; the aftermath if you will - is something else and is the part that can leave the scars.

I think they may have mentioned something about visiting a mortuary...I seen gory stuff on the internet, but that's nothing compared to the real thing.

I totally get what you mean, I guess dealing with my mum's death might be a half-way house to the real thing though, but dealing with other people certainly must be harder.

[JulianHJ]

Furry Exocet said:

Level 5.4 it really isn't difficult, but my comment was a joke that I guess has gone over most people's head

Is that all? That's our basic requirement. Level 2 standard is 6.5, which is a doddle even for an out of shape bloke in PSU boots, as I proved earlier this week.

Firearms and dogs have a higher level to achieve, but I'm not sure what it is. 9-something and 7-something respectively?

[joeg]

JulianHJ said:

Is that all? That's our basic requirement. Level 2 standard is 6.5, which is a doddle even for an out of shape bloke in PSU boots, as I proved earlier this week.

Firearms and dogs have a higher level to achieve, but I'm not sure what it is. 9-something and 7-something respectively?

In scotland the standard is higher, it's around 9.2 for a 18-29 year old male. There is also a 1.5 mile run in under 12 minutes! The fitness test has to be passed 5 times I believe through probation and if you fail without reasonable exuces you get one more chance or thats your job!

[Ki3r]

AndrewEH1 said:

Cheers, yeah I'm under no pretence that if I pass I'm suddenly police. Obviously full time guys have a harder time than specials (don't want to make the job look terrible!)

I'm just so fking bored at work, no satisfaction at all. Hopefully this will even things up a little bit!

Same here. I'm stuck in a dead end job, I hate it, I have to drag myself in each day. I look forward to going on duty every time (I do two/three shifts a week on average over the month since I started in 2010).

I've got a week off work, and doing five shifts in a row at the moment, some people might think its sad, but its something I love doing, I love learning new things, and enjoy the paperwork side of things (I guess I won't be saying that if I join the regs!).

I still want to join the regulars, however if I found a job that I enjoyed in between now and then, I'm fairly sure I would be just as happy being a Special.

[jbsportstech]

For me the shift patterns are a test of you as individual and your relationships.

Also as a reg you can be posted anywhere in your force area and rarely get your hom location in the first two years.

[Red 4]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Nail hit squarely on the head.

There is a huge difference between "the police" - the men and women who do the job day in and day out - and "the police" as an organization. The "organization" is, quite frankly, appalling. And it is getting worse.

[XCP]

I'd agree. It's the faceless tts in charge of personnel and other functions at HQ who are the real enemy. The people who you work with and rely on day in, day out will mostly be good as gold.

[Carnage]

I love policing. Not so keen on the police.

(And just worked 65 hours in 5 days).

[AndrewEH1]

...well, got word back earlier today that I passed the interview and testing process.

Medical, vetting checks next then training to become a special begins in September if everything is in order.

It does worry me a bit that most of you on here say it's awful, but I feel I need to get it a go for a year and see how I get on.

Edited by AndrewEH1 on Saturday 25th May 12:29

[Futuramic]

I did it for three and a half years. Ended up exhausted, cynical, a sad sliver of my former happy, extroverted self.

I now work in a glorified call centre role spouting corporate nonsense to the elderly. It's normal nine to five; I haven't worked on a Sunday for a year and a half and am contracted to do one Saturday per annum ie one in fifty two.

I've returned to how I was and am extremely happy; despite the pay cut, moving back in at home and selling/getting rid of numerous possessions.

When I left no-one in the service told me not to. The main response was mild jealousy.

[Elroy Blue]

I recently met someone who left the job after 25 years of working 24/7 response. I didn't recognise her at first. She looked 10 years younger. She said getting her body clock back into synch and no more cumulative stress (dealing with the never ending petty crap and faceless HR 'managers' rather than major incidents) has meant she got her life back.
Colleague of mine is on holiday next week. Very expensive and something his family have been saving years for. He's just got a Crown Court warning. Five days notice (the case is a year old) and CPS couldn't give a st about his holiday.
So, to reinforce the message to anybody considering it..DO NOT DO IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Aldi are currently recruiting sales assistants and you'll get paid more without the st

[TNTom]

I've just read over this. I've always thought about joining the police. I'm in retail security at the moment.

I think you officers do a great job. I respect/look up to the police and always will. My job would hell if you weren't there. (Although it doesn't touch the difficulty of your job)

As a 24 year old I've seen many people i went to school/college with turn to crime and laugh at the thought of the police.

Myself id just like to thank you for the hard work you do, hopefully one day join and try to make a difference.

[Elroy Blue]

TNTom said:

Myself id just like to thank you for the hard work you do, hopefully one day join and try to make a difference.

Without wanting to sound harsh, you WILL NOT be 'making a difference'. You will be dealing with the same feral underclass day after day, getting assaulted, spat on and then st on by senior officers and the Government.

You will come home to find 'news' papers telling you you're a lazy, fat, unfit, overpaid , corrupt waste of space. Then you'll log onto the Internet and find a handful of armchair experts giving the benefit of 'this is what you should have done' (their experience amounting to something they read in the Daily Wail)

You will not be able to tell anyone about the nonsense you see or the lies Politicians tell. Officers are currently being prosecuted for 'misconduct' for writing and talking about the dire things this Government is doing to the Police service. One wrote a book (only using publicly available material) about the insidious and secretive privatisation that is happening and his life has been destroyed.
Think long and hard.

[TNTom]

Elroy Blue said:

Without wanting to sound harsh, you WILL NOT be 'making a difference'. You will be dealing with the same feral underclass day after day, getting assaulted, spat on and then st on by senior officers and the Government.

You will come home to find 'news' papers telling you you're a lazy, fat, unfit, overpaid , corrupt waste of space. Then you'll log onto the Internet and find a handful of armchair experts giving the benefit of 'this is what you should have done' (their experience amounting to something they read in the Daily Wail)

You will not be able to tell anyone about the nonsense you see or the lies Politicians tell. Officers are currently being prosecuted for 'misconduct' for writing and talking about the dire things this Government is doing to the Police service. One wrote a book (only using publicly available material) about the insidious and secretive privatisation that is happening and his life has been destroyed.
Think long and hard.

This is why i stuck the word "try" in the sentence. give it 5/10 years hopefully things will be better

[Red 4]

TNTom said:

This is why i stuck the word "try" in the sentence. give it 5/10 years hopefully things will be better

5/10 years ? Tom, I suggest you check out the Winsor reforms and look at how the police service is being destroyed, piece by piece.

"Commissions" - short/ medium term contracts for police officers will be introduced.

Privitisation will be sweeping.

Pay and conditions are already being eroded.

"The job" itself is the same as it has always been but it is made much more difficult by "management" ideology - ie the next, best thing that somebody climbing the greasy pole of the promotion ladder intoduces as a way of getting ahead. When they are promoted/ move on somebody else fills their shoes and everything changes again due to another next, best idea to continue the never ending cycle.

You will not "make a difference" in the grand scheme of things. You will keep a lid on things and deal with the same people day in and day out. (role dependant).

[XCP]

Elroy Blue said:

I recently met someone who left the job after 25 years of working 24/7 response. I didn't recognise her at first. She looked 10 years younger. She said getting her body clock back into synch and no more cumulative stress (dealing with the never ending petty crap and faceless HR 'managers' rather than major incidents) has meant she got her life back.
Colleague of mine is on holiday next week. Very expensive and something his family have been saving years for. He's just got a Crown Court warning. Five days notice (the case is a year old) and CPS couldn't give a st about his holiday.
So, to reinforce the message to anybody considering it..DO NOT DO IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Aldi are currently recruiting sales assistants and you'll get paid more without the st

It took me a long time to get used to eating normal food at normal times, getting out of bed at normal times and having 'weekends' at the same time as my friends/family and the rest of the world. I daresay all shift workers could say the same. I still remember missing my sisters wedding because I wasn't allowed time off though.

[Futuramic]

Elroy Blue said:

I recently met someone who left the job after 25 years of working 24/7 response. I didn't recognise her at first. She looked 10 years younger. She said getting her body clock back into synch and no more cumulative stress (dealing with the never ending petty crap and faceless HR 'managers' rather than major incidents) has meant she got her life back.
Colleague of mine is on holiday next week. Very expensive and something his family have been saving years for. He's just got a Crown Court warning. Five days notice (the case is a year old) and CPS couldn't give a st about his holiday.
So, to reinforce the message to anybody considering it..DO NOT DO IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Aldi are currently recruiting sales assistants and you'll get paid more without the st

I'd agree with that - stupid hours meant grabbing whatever crap food was available at short notice and not having a regular exercise regime.

Since getting out I've lost 2 1/2 stone and am feeling much healthier. My complexion, skin and hair have all improved. I used to suffer from all sorts of weird things - such as dry skin and dandruff. All gone now. I don't get headaches any more; I'm not tired; I can concentrate on things. All in all I'm physically different to how I was. Sort of as if I got an all over upgrade! Don't do it!

[Mojooo]

None of this will stop anyone who was going to apply from applying

They will either think you are wrong, don't have anything better to do or will want to see it for themselves and so on.

On the plus side if it does turn out to be crap it is easier to leave at the earlier part of your career.

[ODJ]

Time for an update:
She made it through the paper shift graded B and has a selection day coming up next month.

[Furry Exocet]

ODJ said:

Time for an update:
She made it through the paper shift graded B and has a selection day coming up next month.

Congrats