AIBU to consider a career as a police detective

[NotInspectorPoirotYet]

I think it sounds like a interesting, rewarding and challenging job but I'm worried about whether it's really compatible with family life? Any detective's with primary school aged children out there? How do you find it?

At the moment I do a job that I find some what uninspiring but that is well paid and with a reasonable work life balance, 40 hours + commute but no real overtime or unsociable hours.

OP, there is backup, but it can be quite far away if you’re out on the beat.

Also, it’s not just the “bad guys” who cause bother. I’ve been out taking victim and witness statements and had problems then. Once I was taking a statement from a victim and had to leave her house as she was shouting at me “haven’t Police got something better to do than take statements”. I’m not a cop. I work in a Police support role. I thought I was “safe” taking a statement from a victim (you’d think they would want us to help??)

On the plus side though, even though morale is low and workloads are high I can honestly say that the majority of people within the Police are fantastic. They try their best with what little they have and they do a very good job.

Oh and in my force detectives absolutely interview alone. It’s not ideal but needs just. I’ve been shut in interview rooms alone with many rapists, violent criminals, child abusers. I’ve been assaulted as a detective, but mostly I can diffuse a situation. Something I learned to do as a PC

I've name changed for this as it would make me very identifiable.

I've joined the Met as a DE DC. It's a very thorough course and a really well structured pathway. Contrary to previous posts while I have encountered sceptism I haven't had any really bad encounters and tbh the over riding reaction from peers and rank has been relief that their is someone to help shoulder the burden.

There's been most bad reactions from uniform colleagues but that's not been personal. The attitude is that they might not agree with the program but we've just taken advantage of a route into the job and we all need to pull together. Caveat to that - I have made an effort to do extra shifts out with response in my own time so I can appreciate what they do and I make sure I get stuck in.

The hours are variable - there's been long days and days where I haven't worked over my shift. I am really enjoying it. It might just be that my borough is particularly well supposed but there has only been one resignation in the, I think, 3 cohorts that have been sent here. But that was because of the work/life balance so that's something to be aware of. I'm from a background of shifts and dealing with not so nice people so that hasn't come as a shock. Ditto I have a strong stomach so sudden deaths have not been too bad.

Feel free to PM if you have questions.

Interview alone- yes, that happens now more often than ever but if the suspect was actually violent at the time they were supposed to be interviewed, they’d be staying in their cell. You wouldn’t be dragging a violent person off to be interviewed. Most suspects are cooperating by that point. They are unpredictable though which is why interviews have emergency buttons in.

Go out to make an arrest alone? No if planned but if a situation arose where an arrest needed to be made then you would be expected to rise to the occasion even if alone.

Most professions don’t have staff that have come up through the ranks though steff13. The fact there is open resentment means some people will have a hard time and be put off.

I know grad PCs but not direct entry to CID. Teachers are now grads. They used to work alongside people who were not. The grads earned more because the pay was adjusted upwards for grad entry. It’s how professions work. My DH is a Chartered Engineer. You would find that virtually impossible now without a degree. Without a Masters it takes forever. You learn with others as you train and do CPD. It’s how modern employment works. It really depends on how professional the Police need to be or indeed want to be.

I would hate working with people who resented me and didn’t want to train me.

AriadnesWebb, I’m glad your experience is positive. I don’t think we are recruiting DE DCs yet but it is probably only a matter of time. I’d like to think that most of my colleagues would be welcoming and helpful for the very reasons you state.

AridanesWeb thank you for sharing your experience with me. It's great to hear from someone who is doing it. It's also good to hear what you say about it being a well structured pathway and the training being good.

Also we aren't thrown straight in with serious complex crime, we start off in the CSU (safeguarding) dealing with low level, volume crime to build experience. No is investigating rapes with no experience.

And while for me, the training at Hendon and pathway on borough has been great, the recruitment process was one of the most useless and disorganised I have ever encountered. Plus resourcing in terms of IT is just shockingly bad.

@NotInspectorPoirotYet how old are you? I am in my early 30s and I know that I will be starting alongside people who have just finished A Levels (if I get in!).

I don't really see it as a disadvantage though. I've a lot more experience dealing with difficult people than most of them will have. Don't let age be a barrier.

Early 40s, so pretty old for a career change.
That's another reason why if I did it I'd want to go the direct entry DC route.

I hadn't realised quite how controversial that was within the police until I posted today.

But until recently the kids have been quite little. So it hasn't been a great time to take on massive new challenges.

One of my friends has just joined as a PC at 44.

My cohort had a large age range - the youngest was 21 and the oldest 48 if that helps. I'm early 30s but no kids and no interest in any.

Not sure if my force has any direct entry DCs. I would hope I’d judge on merit.
They’re desperate for DCs especially on sexual offences (a booming industry) but no one wants to do it.
They’re also really short sighted. I offered to pay to do the NIA (investigators exam) to help me in every day work (we carry jobs on uniform response including offences triable at Crown Court) and for job satisfaction but they wouldn’t sanction it because “rules”

Interviewing alone all the time unless for a very serious offence - Scotland requires double crewing for corroboration, not the same in England and Wales. You'll carry out unplanned arrests alone but not planned arrests.

I am (long) retired from the met.
I honestly can't see how anyone can walk into the job of detective and manage to do it efficiently without the several years of beat experience that come beforehand. Those years are invaluable for learning to deal with all the shits and equally shitty situations you come across. The hours can be punishing. You might be working until 4 am, but you will still be expected to be at your desk by 8 am. This is forces trying to do policing on the cheap, as they have with pcos.
It is hard work,, largely dealing with the dregs of society, because you are not going to get the good or interesting jobs. The met police is sexist and cliquey (I can't speak for other forces). I loved my job, don't get me wrong, but the atmosphere is very much survival of the fittest, and there is a lot of face fitting and favouritism. Unless you have come up through the recognised route (training college, probation etc), I can guarantee the minute you make a mistake, or have a childcare problem, you will be labelled appropriately.

I'm finding this a fascinating thread. Out of interest - I'm a clinician in the NHS and support people in pain, at times of bereavement and when they are in crisis. Is there a case whereby a transition from one public service to another might be received ok? Just wondering if 'doing time' in another community facing role might be more 'acceptable'?

Miss Smith, please don’t get us wrong, it’s not the people that are the problem it’s the method of entry. Direct entry to a DC role means that the entrants are being put in a skilled role without having done the grounding. However that is not the fault of the individual it is the system. If you are good at the job, you will be more than appreciated.

To be honest, if you applied and were accepted, what you have done before would be little more than small talk, it’s all about how you develop/perform moving forward.

I would also add you need a very very thick skin to be a police officer. And that’s not just to deal with the public but it’s still a very masculine job and you have to be prepared to tell people including colleagues to fuck off as well as then switching personas to telling someone their loved one has killed them self. You have to be a bit of a chameleon-could you talk to someone for an hour to stop them jumping off a bridge because the nearest negotiator is far far away? Go without food for a whole shift and have the strongest bladder control known to man? Would you be prepared to hit someone who tried to grab your bum because that does happen?

I would agree there is a big cross over in skill sets with other emergency services jobs/NHS yes Miss Smith I think your experience would benefit you

Age is no issue provided you can pass the fitness test I’m in my 40s unfortunately I still get chatted up by drunks even tho I am extremely sour😂

For the love of God just don’t! Please don’t do it.

It’s not rewarding, it’s rarely satisfying. It’s incredibly disheartening, soul destroying completely incompatible with family life. To top it off you get treated like shit. Officers are leaving in droves. Literally. Don’t do it. You’re worth more. Anyone is.

I was a detective. It was so incompatible with family life and stressful I was forced to ditch my career path to do a crap job within the police just to keep my hours low and to keep some kind of family life.

Old Siam, what you’ve just talked about absolutely does not represent the role of a dc.

Let’s not put people off, increased numbers of capable, keen people is a good thing for us all.

I think you have to consider why PCs won't take their DC qualifications and thus direct entry is needed. There is a shortage of DCs in the Met, it is stressful and high personal risk especially with disclosure issues. Long hours and not compatible with family life. You won't get the more sought after jobs until you've been in a while - Criminal Finance, Cyber, Kidnap, Murder teams, proactive squads money laundering etc there is competition to get into. They need people for sexual abuse and child abuse teams which are obviously very traumatic areas of work.
They can also send you to any area they want. They recently re-posted a load of DCs from the South to North Met areas as numbers in the North were low. This meant people had commutes of 1.5-2hrs each way, subsequently loads of DCs are transferring to Surrey, Kent, Sussex.

True Wallis I got carried away in some ways, forgot it was direct entry to DC as the original Q (altho the sexism was just as bad in CID and you do still need a v thick skin indeed). Sometimes DCs get put in uniform for events in our force.

Not read the full thread but if you’re bright then I wouldn’t be deterred in going for a cid/detective post straightaway. I work with police officers (I’m not one) and there are many who are hard working and utterly committed but unlikely to progress beyond PC. Alternatively you could consider national crime agency or hm revenue & customs.

Exactly snowpo I’m not MPS but I wouldn’t do the job of a DC even for extra money. I wouldn’t begrudge them the extra money either in a way. And until they realise why they are missing out on talent. I was good at what I did and went the extra mile for my victims. I really saw my future doing investigations. But I ended up with nearly having a nervous breakdown. That is poor management within my force and may not necessarily be the case elsewhere