to seriously consider applying to join the police in my early 40's

[spiritedaway]

Have wound up single with your4 children and am considering the police as a career. Assuming i could cope with the job itself- is it feasible for a single mum? I know it is shift work and i have no family support. I will have to sort childcare but my question is how compatible is this with family life. .

Another thing to ask yourself....

How would you cope with a 6ft5 muscle built Hard man off his head on drugs waving a machete in your face screaming "I'm going to kill you"

I have a lot of respect for the men and women that go out there and deal with this, I know that I couldn't!

The police is not just a job you get into because you fancy the pay.

Honestly: don't.

The police are being decimated by the govmt. Senior management are under extraordinary strain and it is the PCs who suffer. Police officers are now officially designated not 'employees' with the usual rights as regards treatment at work but on the same level as the military. Forget birthdays, weddings or holidays. Forget peace of mind, sleep, good nutrition or your health. You will see humanity at its worst and risk everything you have for dwindling pay, shocking conditions and the contempt of the public, the government and senior officers. I absolutely promise you, I do not exaggerate.

The only way to survive in the police is to be a hardened 25 year old who has no family responsibilities and has never wanted any other career.

(DH left the police last year pretty much a broken man, as you can perhaps tell )

Don't get the snort- sigh response. . Have taught for years, but not in this country.

I don't think the police would be the right way to go OP. I applied years ago (in my early 20's), went through the general exam and interview. I was asked what I would do if someone threatened me with a knife. I can't remember what I answered, but after giving it some thought afterwards if was pretty much run in the other direction! Let's just say I didn't attend for the fitness test.

I don't know about teaching. I understand that it's quite hard to get into and yes, they do a lot of out of hours work. No more than a lot of other professions though.

It's the unpredictability of the job - as well as different shifts every week on a 4/5 week rotation making childcare almost impossible.

Shifts finishing late, sometimes by hours. Rest days cancelled at a few hours notice. Working Christmas AND New Year some years (no choice). Additional courses on your days off... Working most weekends so social life suffers too and people don't understand why you can't just book a weekend off whenever.

Then court... DH has had to go to court countless times on his days off, straight off nightshift with no sleep, no idea how long a case will last. Recalled from holidays.

My DH couldn't do it if I wasn't there for the kids 24/7. He's planning his escape.

All responses much appreciated. I was inspired by the prolonged contact i had with several WPO's during a particular time in my life. As far as teaching goes i don't think that is out of my reach. If i put in voluntary classroom hours over the next 2 years there is no reason i wouldn't get a place on a training course. And i also have no expectations of working 9 till 3.30.

Haunted. .well said

Think Haunted paints a picture that shows policing is a world away from teaching

Have you thought about training in Occupational Therapy if you are particularly interested in a caring profession. Three year training - but some Trusts offer in-service training if you have already worked with them as an OT assistant. You can choose what to specialise in after training ie: physical, social services, psychiatry etc. I have worked with a number of OT students who were in their early 40s.

Totally agree Haunted. What is your DH doing now?

Slight derail, but I don't understand why the police are not more respected in this country. I think they do an amazing job based on all the millions of TV shows I watch. I think it must be a bit of a thankless job a lot of the time.

It would be difficult. From my friends who are in the police It's common for them to work over their shift due to the nature if the cases that come in just as they are about to finish. They get called in on overtime on bank holidays and weekends and the shift rotas aren't always done in advance.

The ones that are married with children struggle with the working patterns and their partners take the brunt of it.

I know one couple who are both police officers but they trained and worked their way up before having children, now work reasonably standard shifts but still rely heavily on family members. The lady works part time and without childcare, family and friends this wouldn't be possible

I echo everyone else. The shift pattern is awful. My husband is a police officer and i am police staff. We go for months without a rest day together. Then when we do his rest day gets cancelled for court etc.

Also what used to be an attractive salary and pension no longer is. Its now 19 grand start pay and its gone from paying 11 % into your pension to 14% and for much less pay out.

Honestly? I think you'd find it incredibly difficult with logistics of childcare which is a shame as your maturity would stand you in good stead. My DH joined about 8 years ago in his early thirties. He mostly loves the job but.....the job doesn't give a rats arse about family life. It took him the best part of 10 months to have his compressed hours agreed so that he can look after our DD and DS one day a week. It finally got approved, then all compressed hours were declared void during the Olympics (and the Met deemed the Olympic period to be 1st June to 15th September last year). I was left to cover the shortfall in childcare by taking annual leave, extra days at nursery and using our only source of free childcare - my MIL who lives 80 miles away.

If you're still keen to do a bit of policing have you considered being a special constable? I did that for 10 years, gave you the full experience of being a copper but you only did a few hours a week. Of course, no pay involved.....other career lines you may be interested in....probation officer, social worker? Similar-ish roles, but you need to do some higher Ed first, but with those you may be able to receive a bursary of some sort (def with social work anyway). Wish you the best in whatever you decide to do. It's not too late for any of these careers.

I didn't think that the police were recruiting atm? My ds wants to be in the police force. Tbh I can really see him doing it although he's only 12 so has time to change his mind

If it's something you really want to do, you could make this work only with the flexibility that would come with a live-in nanny IMO. On the starting salary of a probationer, you wouldn't be able to afford a live-in nanny. However, if you find a nanny who is OFSTED registered (or better still, find a junior nanny and get her/him OFSTED registered yourself, which would cost about £250 I think), you would be eligible for tax credit help with childcare, which would probably cover about 60% of your costs.

Which leaves only the question of home/work life balance and whether or not you're actually up to the job.

In terms of shift patterns, these are not standard across the country. They vary by force, so contact the forces in your area to check them out. You will inevitably have shifts where you stay on late, but again this is far less common in some areas than in others, though any urban centres have a much higher likelihood of this, so if you live in a city you ought to count on it being a regular thing.

If you really want to do this, you'll find a way. If it seems insurmountable, it's probably because it's not the right job or time for you.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

It honestly is horrendous. I think what shocked me most was a) the constant attacks from the public (from anti-cuts protestors screaming in DH's face that they hoped this mother got cancer of the cunt - though to be fair they weren't to know she'd died recently - through to contempt and mockery from people we met at parties and so on) and b) the absolute refusal of anyone, from Inspectors through to the Home Secretary, to offer any support.

The reason the police were traditionally on decent pay and conditions was because they cannot strike and have no real employment rights. The compensation for a life of violence and danger was that you KNEW you were doing good, and that the country rewarded you.

That's all gone. It's horrendous. You are shafted at every turn. I'm tempted to get DH to write a book about it but no-one would believe a word of it!

He's now an MA student, Whenwilltherebegoodnews. Our finances are precarious but my beloved husband has slowly come alive again over the last 6 months and we've never been happier.

By the way I should point out that DH was a response officer in the Met. I daresay taking the most dangerous role in the capital might have slightly coloured his/our experience of police life. I like to think it would be different in Suffolk, for example!

There are huge cutbacks in the police spending at the moment so a lot of forces aren't recruiting. The Met is currently recruiting BUT you have to have been a Special Constable or PCSO for a considerable amount of time first.
You will certainly have to work full time shifts as a probationer PC for 2 years before you can even think about applying for anything else. And they are looking to keep all operational officers out on the street and get them out of offices etc.
I really don't think its suitable for your family set up.
DH and I are both police, he is full time on team, all shifts. I am lucky, I am in an office and only do 2 days a week but still earlys, lates and weekends. However the reason I'm in an office is because I was involved in a knife attack where my colleagues face and arm were slashed and I was stabbed but fortunately it hit my Met Vest. I now cannot cope mentally with outside work.

Our shifts don't match so every week we have different childcare requirements. Thankfully my Mum is near and she can do the early mornings, late nights, put them to bed when needed but it would be difficult otherwise to find flexible childcare.

PCSO's tend to have more predictable hours and don't often do nightshifts so it might be something to think about?

My DB is a policeman and absolutely loves it. For a time he was the youngest officer in Scotland but he was always very mature. He adores his job, and I know he will do it forever. His DF is pregnant with their first and I know they are a little nervous about his shifts/late finishes etc and have not decided whether she will return to work. They will also be well supported by both of their parents. OP I just don't see how you could do this, sorry.

I would say not suitable, sorry but I have many family members in the police. Not only are the hours anti-social (shifts can be such as 5pm-3am) but they also change all the time-literally. Also you are required to stay after shift sometimes with no option of leaving. You could have to work away also to aid other forces. Maybe you will be in court for example or required to cancel your only day off etc etc. The pension was generous but now not as good. Pay also not as good/been frozen/removal of bonus etc. I think it only works if in a couple and one stays home or if family members are willing to do lots of childcare at all hours.

NC to avoid outing.

What haunted said. I've been in the job for 10 years and used to love it. Now I despise most of it but for financial reasons I'm locked in. It ruins your health, relationships, social life, family life, faith in humanity to list a few. My DH is also a copper and we have about 2 days off every 10 weeks together. I've always worked full time but am expecting dc1 so will have to go pt. We are finding it almost impossible to sort his hours, my hours and what will be acceptable for the organization. Bizarrely I am now expected to arrange childcare between the hours of 2200 and 0200 on 4 consecutive nights 3 times a month. Know anyone?

You will see people at their baddest, maddest and saddest. You will meet some truly vile characters who may follow you home, make veiled threats to you and yours, confront you off duty in tesco, all in addition to what happens on duty. You will pay over a third of your salary in deductions, paying into a pension yet to be decided. Your 21k gold plated salary immediately becomes 14k. You will not get support from the cps nor public nor government nor your bosses. You will do 2 years on response, full shifts, before being able to apply for a specialist post which may preclude nights.

I did work in a city but now in a rural force. Contrary to what haunted said, it's just the same people, same problems, just less of them, but higher gun ownership, more spread out, with less colleagues to come and help you when it all goes to rat shit.

YANBU to consider it, but don't do it.

Oh thing Sorry, matey. And thanks for what you do. I hope you can work it all out.

We were on a high combined income in London. We now live in a rural town, I'm self employed and DH is a student. We've just been through our coat pockets and bags for change for groceries

Literally, we would rather live in happy poverty together than DH go back into that hellish existence, where you can cradle a dying stab victim during a 18 hour shift with no food then sleep for 2 hours before returning to work and getting screamed at by some sergeant in fear of his pension, then come home and open the papers and read all about how coppers are ignorant thugs.

It's desperately desperately sad, but that's what this Govmt has done to the police.

Yep, can't believe people still want to join. Every now and then a great job comes off, someone's grateful and all is well again. For a bit!