Mumsnet Talk

Hi,

I am thinking about becoming a police officer (when Dcs are bit older) and was wondering whether becoming a special for a couple years would give me insight into the job of a police officer and lend credibility to my application later?

Are any Mners special constables who could also tell me about there experiences as a special (good or bad)?

I am grateful for any help/advice.

TIA.

My dh is a pc. He says that it will probably help with the paper sift when applying to the regulars and the learning curve would not be as steep once you joined properly.

You need VicarInATutu...

Thanks SOH.

<calls out politely to VicarInATutu>

Yes, it will help. It will help you decide if it really is what you want to do and also, it will make sure you are 'known' when you are being interviewed and demonstrate committment on your part.

Many many years ago I joined the specials when I was 18. I loved it so much I ended up practically working more hours per week than in my 'real' job. I used to work late and night shifts at weekends and work lates after work and became well known to all the regulars.

2 years later when I applied for the regulars I was accepted. Not sure what it is like now but when I joined (1987) there were literally hundreds of applicants for very few jobs. There were several different stages of interview. One at the local police station, one at home and then a final 2 day residential interview where we underwent all sorts of tests, mental and physical (I didn't have a lardy arse then!)

Quite a few people dropped out/were dropped on day one and am of day 2. There were (if I recall) about 30 people at the start of day 1 and around 5 of us got in. May have changed since then but that was what it was like then.

Certainly a good idea to join the specials. Good luck

My friend is a special constable and she loves it. It has made her realise that she is in the wrong day job, unfortunately she can't retrain as she would have to take a huge paycut.

Thank you mumoverseas, that is the reason why I am thinking/planning to become a special, to explore whether I want to go on and become a fully fledged police officer.

I have about 2-3 years before I want to go back into paid employment, and when I do would really like to go in a completely different direction.

Thank you thedollshouse I hope that your friend might find a way around the loss of income. A friend of mine set up a saving account and saved for 3 years before making a career change.

Hi CandyKane,

Great to hear that you're interested in becoming a Special Constable. It's a really worthwhile use of your time, and as has already been said, will give you a lot of insight into the life of a regular officer. As a Special Constable you will spend much of your time working alongside regular officers out on patrol, answering calls and taking part in Special Initiatives. Which constabulary are you thinking about applying to? Here is a link with more information for the Hertfordshire Constabulary:

www.hertspolicecareers.com/roles/specialconstables/

I hope that helps!

Isobel
On behalf of Hertfordshire Constabulary Special Constables

My ds1 is a Special Constable. He applied for the police force 18 months ago and got to the final interview but they decided he needed more life experience. He was 19 so I can see their point. He's been working as a Special for a couple of months now and enjoys it.

saggar, that is very common. When I applied for 'the job' the first time I was bounced back and told to gain more experience. I was only 18 and they regularly do that as they prefer applicants who have had a job or two rather than coming straight from college.
Don't let that put DS1 off. The fact that he got to the final interview is very good and I'm sure he'll get in next time. Give it another 12 months before applying.

I just read Saggars' post and for a second thought I must have written it in my sleep, as I could have written the exact same thing about my 19 year old DS !

He enjoys the job too and I'm very proud of him but it's no 'easy' ride. He was 1st on scene of a fatal RTA in the middle of the night for example, and had to give mouth to mouth (unsuccessfully) to the victim as well as first aid to a driver with glass in his eye etc. Considering that - so far as I know - there's no allowances made for Specials in the types of incidents they deal with, I'm really impressed by those who volunteer their time for free for such a difficult job ..... especially when it's on top of a regular FT job. I really do think the Police are onto a very good thing and can't help feeling that these volunteers are being taken advantage of. If no-one offered their time, presumably more paid officers would have to be employed to make up the shortfall in man power ?

Hi there,

I was a special in the Met for about 5 years, gave it up about a year ago, when I became pregnant. Think I'm going to miss it though - I miss the buzz of going to calls where you have no idea what's going to happen (that said it's not all exciting stuff, many many calls are a complete waste of time - ie nothing happening when you arrive). I used to work every Friday night in Croydon high street. Fights, robberies, burglaries and anti-social behaviour was the normal type of stuff I dealt with. I also miss the police humour! Sometimes you need to laugh when you've dealt with a really tricky customer.

Definitely recommend it if you're thinking about joining the job full time.

The training for the Met was at Hendon for 18 full Sundays in a row. You basically learn the same as the full time coppers but in a very concentrated way. Then you get to go out in a uniform for the first time - the responsibility was a bit scary but you get into the swing of things because they usually post you to stations where there are other specials from the training class you were with.

Out of the 8 people in my class, 3 are now full time in the Met and 2 are applying.

Go for it, it'll definitely give you a taster of the job. Plus you'll meet friends for life (there's nothing more friend affirming than being in a tricky situation and relying completely on you and your colleague to deal with things).

Good luck! (and keep safe if you do go for it)