In order to join the English police force the applicant must be aged eighteen years of age or above, the police prefer older candidates as they have more life experience, they must also be a British, Irish or a commonwealth citizen, they must be deemed of good character, must be physically fit and health and also have a full driving license or be in the process of learning.
There are three main parts to the selection process when trying to become a police officer
- complete the application form
- If the applicants request passes an initial assessment they are invited to complete a written test, an interview and two interactive role plays, for a day, If the applicant is successful on completion of this day they are invited to attend a second day this will involve a Job Related Fitness Test and a Medical Assessment the medical examination – this includes both an eye test and a hearing test. They will be required to bring contact lenses or spectacles, if they ever wear these.
- security and reference checks
All candidates:
- Seeking selection in the police service must be of the highest integrity, honesty and have respect for diversity.
- Must not have any convictions
- Must successfully pass all elements of the selection process relevant to the post that they are applying for
- Must be cleared in respect of the counter terrorism checks
- Must be security cleared
Central operations department
Covers a wide range of support units such as:
mounted branch allows police officer to carry out High-visibility policing this deters criminal activity and reassures the public as it is easier for the public to approach the officer compared to if they were in a vehicle due to the slower nature of this patrolling. It is thought that his improves the relationship between the police and public.
Another role connected with the use of police horses are large events such as policing major sports events as it is easier to manage a large crowd. Police horses are also used for missing or wanted person’s searches as the police officer is able to cover a lot more ground on horse back rather than on foot, and has more accessibility to fields than cars do
Police searches.
Marine support, are able to provide 24-hour waterborne response to incidents, they investigate marine-related crime whilst providing core policing support on water and in waterfront areas to territorial divisions, gathering and collating maritime intelligence, searching for and recovering missing people and evidence at the same time as offering high visibility patrols, public reassurance, crime prevention initiatives, carrying out multi-agency initiatives, specialist advice, counterterrorism searches.
Dog support
The core functions carried out by the Dog Branch include:
- crowd management at major sporting events
- searching buildings and open ground for missing and wanted people
- searching for evidence
- drugs detection and explosive detection
- tracking suspects
- victim recovery dogs
- tactical firearms operations
- supporting community-based initiatives
- public order response
- high-profile, proactive, intelligence-led patrols
Air support
Most forces have or share full time air support. Helicopters are mostly used but planes are also. They have technology including thermal imaging cameras which work by following heat sources and which transmit pictures to ground commanders. They often assist with serious traffic incidents.
Specialist operations department
They deal with tasks such as intelligence, security, protecting politicians, embassies and royalty. They also investigate some categories of serious crimes like racial and violent crime and terrorism.
This department is responsible for making the airports and the surrounding area a hostile environment for criminal and terrorist activity by patrolling inside and outside the four terminal buildings and the local area.
They must maintain an effective response to terrorist activity, working with partners and wider airport communities to gather intelligence, detect and prevent crime and dismantle organised criminal networks
Human resources directorate
They make sure that the police officers and staff are working at the highest possible standards. They recruit, train and develop all staff helping them to develop their careers.
Commissioner’s private office
This is a fairly small department but very important providing professional and support function for the commissioner and deputy commissioner
The police service is a rewarding and beneficial career choice, it offers many career paths in different departments and being a police officer would be a diverse and fulfilling job, it would be an adrenaline rush to not know what the next call would entail. The aspect of the job that appeals most to many people is knowing that they would be part of such a huge service protecting the public and community from crime.
