Still have questions?
Do you still have questions about being a police officer? Here are some common concerns.
The police are available to help, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round. This means keeping people safe can be hard. There may be occasions where, while dealing with an incident, you can’t leave immediately at the end of your shift. This requires you to be flexible. During your probation period, you will be expected to work three weekends on and two weekends off. Your shifts will vary: days, evenings, nights and weekend shifts.
However, we understand that you will have family and social commitments and we make every effort to afford you flexibility in roles, let you have your shift patterns in advance and try to manage work life balance.
While we do have some officers that work part-time, you won’t be able to do this immediately. In due course, you may wish to discuss flexible working with your line manager.
The role of an officer is varied and challenging. That is what attracts people to the job. You will be exposed to situations that are unpleasant that you may not have encountered before. You might attend serious injury road traffic collisions, violent situations and even death. This is why we regard the role of a PC very highly. We equip you with a world class training programme to guide you.
The role requires you to be resilient, with effective communication and problem solving skills. Not everyone starts off with a full checklist of everything, but we partner you with experienced officers to give you the chance to develop the skills and knowledge required. The reward you get from helping people in need, is often cited as the reason why police officers joined the job.
Every police force has a rank structure where it’s important to be able to follow instruction. After all, it can be a matter of life and death at times! As an officer, you have significant powers in serving and protecting the public. With this honour, there needs to be responsibility and accountability. We expect everyone, regardless of rank or role, to commit to ethical behaviour and values. If we are to police the public, then everyone needs to deliver at the right standard.