Thoughts and views....career change into the Police (detective)

[MtnBikeChick]

I am considering a fairly drastic (though not entirely unrelated) career change. I feel good about it but wanted to get some Mumsnetter views. I am a lawyer, but I don't do client facing work anymore – I work in an operational type position within my firm. I have been considering applying to the direct entry Detective Police Constable role (with the Met). I have absolutely zero attachment to my job, other than my colleagues who I love. The money is however excellent. I would be going from a six figure salary to around £40k, and that is clearly a huge consideration. I am bored out of my mind at work, because I don't find the industry I work in interesting in any way. I find it depressing and demoralising.

By way of background, I am late 30s, and have been doing this job for 13 years (in various shapes/forms). I have two kids – year 1 and year 4. My husband has a very senior City job, travels frequently, excellent money. I do not work for the money, but it's nice. We have a junior nanny/au pair who lives with us and does pre-after school care and holiday help. In the interests of full disclosure, I suffered a sudden family bereavement last year that has drastically changed my perspective on life, and that does have something to do with this. I feel the deep urge to do something more meaningful and do something that would test my brain in a different way. I have incredible research skills and I am very tenacious. I love to keep going until I get a result.

A lot of commentary I have read speaks to the down sides of working shifts. I have the childcare that can cover this. In a way I feel like the shift work can't be worse than what I do now, to be honest. I currently work a 31 hour week over 4 days. One day I work from home, which is nice, but the other 3 days in the office I am out of the house from 7:15am – 6:45pm. I always check my emails outside these hours. In some respects, I feel that shifts may give me more flexibility to see my kids and husband at different times.

Anyway, all thoughts welcome. Clearly a 65% pay cut is pretty drastic and not to be taken lightly. I would love to hear from anyone with experience of working in the Police, whether or not in a detective constable role.

Thank you!

I don't work for the police but if you can afford the salary cut and have the childcare covered then I'd go for it!

Yes, go for it! What does DH think?
With your background, you'd make a good detective. But do you have to be a "bobby on the beat" first before you can specialise? Not sure of how it works.
But yes, if you can make it work, do it!

No, in 2017 the Met started a direct entry detective constable route, which is interesting.

I'm a detective - have been for 15 years working in various departments.. I have one child aged 8. Like many public sector jobs it's hard work especially as there are a lot less of us now than there used to be.

Morale is quite low at the moment and many officers don't want to become detectives anymore hence the direct entry scheme. The paperwork is horrendous and I have lost count of the number of times I have had to work well beyond my finish time not getting home until the early hours of the morning.On one occasion my little one didn't see me for 3 days because of work.

You can't just stop dealing with a case if somebody is in custody so you need to be mindful of that. Sometimes you can't make events you have planned as you don't know what you will have to deal with during your shift and you may finish many hours after you were due to finish.

Also speaking with my mum hat on it can be bloody hard getting home with only a few hours sleep and then doing school runs etc and all the other stuff that comes with being a mum, little ones and school.

This may not be an issue for you either but the pension conditions have changed a lot recently - you may want to look into that.

It can be an interesting job and I won't insult your intelligence. There is a hell of a lot of paperwork/file work to do and then some more.

If I were you also look at civilian investigator roles - some forces are advertising both. I think the working conditions of the civilian investigator would be more favourable - they would do most of the same work as the other role. It would also be worth asking if you could spend some time with a detective before you apply.

Good luck with whatever you decide but definitely do your research first.

Have you researched why the Met Police is so desperately short of detectives they are recruiting people with no policing experience into the role? Also why so few police officers volunteer for the role?

Hey, I know it would be a different working environment as a detective and I’m sure different forces will vary, but I’d caution on going into the police at the moment. It was a career I was interested in, I volunteered as a Special Constable for almost two years to find out more. Although there were many good things about the job I couldn’t go into it as a full time role. The morale was very low, the paperwork insane, the pressures very high.

Are you looking at this role because you’re really interested in policing, or because you want to get out of your current job? If it’s the latter, is there anything else you can do? If you’re interested in investigations, would any non-police roles be of interest? I work in regulation and there are roles in this field that might suit you.

I've been in the Met police for 23 years. My advice would be don't do it. To say morale is low is an understatement. If you want to have little control over your hours/days off then go for it. Most of us are there still purely for the pension. I'm not a detective but despite what you are told your days off can be cancelled with no notice whatsoever. You could also be sent to work on the other side of London with no say in it (although this unlikely but still possible). If I had the skills and experience you have I would look for something else fulfilling. Whilst it is undoubtedly a worthwhile job the powers that be don't give you the scope to do it to the best of your ability nor enable you to give the public the service they want or deserve. Sorry