Police career at 40?

[40andneedacareer]

Thanks for all the previous advice, I've been looking into everything and the one thing that I keep coming back to it the Police Now career where you apply as a graduate for the police.

Am I too old, it is a pipe dream, really appreciate your thoughts.

Not at all. I work for the police (I'm not an officer though) and once had to go to the police college for a course. It was the students' last night and I was chatting to them in the bar. One woman was 47! She was so happy to be graduating. She looked amazing for her age to be fair but it's never too late. Go for it.

Or was it 45? 40's anyway!

Thank you, I'm fitter now that I've ever been and I now have the time in my life for a demanding career.

My colleague left to join the police in her 40s and left within a year. She loved the training but once she was doing actual policing there was very little support. A lot of the established officers were also very bitchy. They didn't like the new recruits and bullied a lot of them out of the door then moaned that they never lasted. A self fulfilling prophecy really. I found it really sad that the people who are supposed to uphold the law behaved in a way that most workplaces wouldn't tolerate.

@MilduraS

My colleague left to join the police in her 40s and left within a year. She loved the training but once she was doing actual policing there was very little support. A lot of the established officers were also very bitchy. They didn't like the new recruits and bullied a lot of them out of the door then moaned that they never lasted. A self fulfilling prophecy really. I found it really sad that the people who are supposed to uphold the law behaved in a way that most workplaces wouldn't tolerate.

I have read several reports on this, especially it seems if the joiner is a woman. Thanks for your reply

@supercee - She looked amazing for her age to be fair but it's never too late.

What does her appearance have to do with anything?!

You should go for it. You can’t beat life experience in a career like policing.

Im ex job, i was bullied out in short. Its not a job i recommend and the pay is horrific. Id HIGHLY suggest either volunteering as a special or working the control room to get a feel for it before making the leap. Most forces really look for diversity so your age may well pay in your favour, most certainly not too late. I miss it daily but id special instead if i had the time.

[quote tenlittlecygnets]**@supercee* - She looked amazing for her age to be fair but it's never too late.*

What does her appearance have to do with anything?![/quote]

I assumed she meant she looked very physically fit rather than attractive

I don't know what it's like for full-time paid policing, but Penny Lancaster (Rod Stewart's wife) recently qualified as a special constable. She's 50. I think it's great what she's doing. Well done to her.

My friend just became a police officer. She turned 40 this year, a couple of months before she was accepted.

[quote tenlittlecygnets]**@supercee* - She looked amazing for her age to be fair but it's never too late.*

What does her appearance have to do with anything?![/quote]

I meant physically fit.

I found it really sad that the people who are supposed to uphold the law behaved in a way that most workplaces wouldn't tolerate.
Why didn't they take it to HR?
These vague criticisms seem extreme - when was this last year or 10 years ago?

@TheoMeo it was in 2019. I don't think she brought it to HR but she had several meetings with her mentor (not sure if that's the right word but he met with new recruits regularly to review performance, discuss issues and plan where they wanted to move on to). At first she was told it happens to everyone and she needs to ignore it, then she was told to just hold on for a few months until she was able to move to a new area of the force. They talked about it at every meeting after she first brought up but it always came back to what she needed to do to put up with it rather than what they could do to put a stop to it. Quite a few people from her initial training have left since then (men and women) and a few are trying to hold on for as long as they can because they're worried about what it will look like on their CV. There are only a handful who plan to stay in the job long term.

That seems crazy!

Sorry I know this thread is a few months old but thought I would give my thought.

I did six years in the met, I can honestly say those six years were the most stressful, unhappiest years of my life. The police is certainly not a good career choice, especially for those joining in there 30s and 40s. The amount of bullying, racism, sexism I witnessed was horrendous. No support for officers, short staffed and Ridiclous workloads. Shifts are awful and hardly any weekends off. You never know what time you will finish. On top of that you get days off cancelled at short notice.

I left the job 18 months ago and haven’t looked back. I earn more money and actually enjoy my job.

Unless it is something you have always wanted to do (and I would ask the question why you have waited until now) then I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.

Sorry OP, I would say don't do it. I joined as a police officer in my 20's and have recently retired in my 50's. Working shifts is a killer for younger officers but is even harder for older officers - permanently fatigue, sleep patterns are all over the place, not to mention having to work on at the end of your shift if you have a prisoner in custody.

I lost count of the amount of family events I had to miss. If you have someone in custody you can't just walk out of the door. I regularly worked 16 hour or more shifts. There is a problem with retention of new officers in the police due to the work conditions and excessive workloads. Ridiculous amounts of paperwork and many newly qualified officers work alone which can lead to isolation, not to mention the threat of violence if you work alone Many leave in the first few months.

If I was you and you are interested in law and order maybe look at a PCSO role - the starting money is a fair comparison, they work alongside the police but have nowhere near the pressure or workloads or level of responsibility.