I can only speak for my experience in my county.
What is it like daily? Relentless, mentally draining hard graft and stressful.
What are the shift patterns like? Initial training in my county 16 weeks 9-5 Monday to Friday. Course is intense and very fast paced. If you’re older, expect it to be like school, in a classroom with immature 18 year olds etc. Very strict rules about uniform standards etc.
After that, students move to front line for 16 weeks. Shifts of 2 x early, 2 x late, 2 x night, 4 x rest. Crewed with a tutor to achieve Independent Patrol Status (IPS). Tutors are notorious for pushing everything on the student eg all the writing up. Response is tough, the radio is constantly calling you out to incidents and you have to go no matter what you’re doing. You never really know what to expect. If it’s something particularly serious or violent; the team will get stuck in.
It’s absolutely exhausting esp if you have children. Study for the NIE on rest days. IPS criteria is very strict and you have to keep a reflective journal - there is hardly any time to write this up so you spend rest days working on that prior to meetings with the prof development mentor who basically oversees your work and it’s their decision to sign you off. Your tutor has their ear so it’s best not to piss them off even when you feel utterly broken.
The next stage after IPS in my county is you join the custody interview team - still as a PC and as a PIP1 investigator (basis offences only).
Shift pattern is 3 x early, 3 x late, 4 x rest. There, we work on another portfolio - FOC.
We basically interview detained prisoners every single day, often holding onto the investigation eg if it’s a medium or high risk DV. If the person has been charged or remanded, we build the case files for CPS charging decisions/court. It’s utterly exhausting and we never catch our breath or finish work on time. There is barely any time to work on our investigations because every day, we are allocated brand new interviews. The cycle never ends. Oh and study for the NIE if first attempt was not successful. And work towards achieving Full Operational Competency (FOC) which is basically the same IPS criteria with a few more added for extra pressure. We hardly ever leave the office due to daily interview allocations. We hold around 20 investigations and are constantly issued tasks from other departments. The cycle never ends. There is always a huge to-do list.
You may be able to apply for a flexible working pattern after you achieve IPS. My force make this very very difficult and it’s a battle to get it signed off by a panel.
Are the police good with parent caring responsibilities? Depends on your line manager to be honest which is why it’s important to get that flexible pattern in place. Some will allow you to start an hour later for school drop off and stay later to make the hours up. You can bank over worked overtime as pay or TOIL. I often use TOIL for school runs.
Wrestle during arrests? Yes. You’ll get all the personal safety training you need eg take downs, handcuff, fending off knifes, batton and PAVA use and retention etc. Be prepared to be thrown about the place by fellow students and trainers. You will learn the techniques. Several live scenario assessments involved. Expect lots of bruises 😱
At some point, students pass the NIE and move onto CID. More serious and complex investigations. They work as a team. You work towards achieving FOC and a PIP2 portfolio. No uniform! This is hard graft too and you can hold around 40 tasks/investigations on your account.
Happy to answer any more questions - I’m brutally honest 🤣