Becoming a police officer

Depends on your area mate. If you join the Met the wage is 22k start at the moment with an extra 6.5k in the form of london weighting/allowances. The pay scale has just changed with the Winsor report so that you reach roughly 36k after 7 years instead of 10 years, which it was before (36k is the max for a PC). Check out this link for pay: http://www.police-information.co.uk/policepay.htm You might also want to check out listentotaxman.com if you want to work out your salary after tax/NI/pension contributions.

I'm focusing mainly on the Met here: for the foreseeable future you can apply externally, which means you do not have to be a special/PCSO to join anymore. There was recently a recruitment drive over Summer and there is another due in Autumn. However, you must obtain a "CKP" to join the Met now and I believe this will be rolled out to most forces when they recruit. CKP stands for "Certificate in Knowledge of Policing" and various colleges in the UK are offering it. The course lasts for roughly 6 weeks, but a HUGE part of the course involves self studying. The certificate remains valid for 3 years (or 4 years if you are a special/PCSO) but of course it does not guarantee you entry into the police and before taking it you must make sure you meet the police criteria - it costs around £900-£1000. When we hit 2015, who knows what the recruitment will be like - but this info is for the rest of 2013 and 2014.

I'm going to be blunt and say this: if you find yourself thinking that the money is the only thing that attracts you to a job in the police then you will most probably fail or quit if you got in. The job is very, very demanding and stressful with huge restrictions on both family and social life. Will you be able to cope with the shift work (involving lates/nights) and cancelled rest days? Or dealing with a suicide/RTC (road traffic collision) and telling relatives what has happened AFTER dealing with deceased bodies? Or dealing with aggressive people on the street who are drugged up/drunk off their face? It is a lot to think about and it's something you need to research deeply.

In my opinion, again being blunt, one should not have to ask the benefits of becoming a police officer, as these should come naturally and in my opinion a career in the police is a calling. However, despite the negatives of being a police officer of course there are many benefits. The chance to make a difference, help victims of crime/people in their time of desperate need, lock up criminals, work as part of such a close knit team where you can always rely on your fellow officers, the chance to specialise (eg. Dogs, Firearms, Mounted, Marine, Air Support) and promotion (sergeant/inspector etc.) ((although in recent times specialising/promotion has become harder)), REALLY doing something different every single day, getting to see the country at all times of the day/night and how it differs etc etc.. the list is endless.

You really need to look around online - check the force websites, policecouldyou.co.uk, the police fed website, UKPoliceOnline forums - there's so many different things out there. Also I'd recommend heading onto Youtube and looking at as many police videos/TV programmes as possible - this will give you a real idea for what it's like out there (although don't be fooled by the TV shows, there IS a LOT of paperwork ). How about go to your local police station and ask about work experience or talk to your local safer neighbourhood team about what it's like? I did 2 weeks WE on 2 different boroughs and it was really informative. Also don't rule out uni/apprenticeships if you aren't completely sure about the police - if for whatever reason you did leave/didn't join the police you need a back up plan.

I hope this has helped, and my apologies for being rather severe at times. Please PM me if you need any more info - I am intending to join the police and have researched it for the past 3 years - all the best

Wow, thanks for that detailed reply, and yes I know of all them extreme circumstances that may occur, but that's one of the things that actually attract me to this job (not seeing dead bodies but...) the fact that everyday will litterally be a completely new day, always doing something different. I'm from Manchester btw and do you think after maybe 15 years in service I will be on 40k+?

Cheers for that detailed reply

It's great that you are attracted by that, it really is one of the highlights of the job. Again my apologies for being rather cynical in my previous post but the amount of people I've talked to who want to become a police officer and yet have no idea what the job actually entails... it's been a lot - sadly too many think it's all fast cars/chases and end up leaving as their heart was not in the right place. Obviously the more one researches the police the more they will either be drawn to it and think "I'd love this!" or be drawn away, but you seem to have your mind at least partially made up which is good.

Regarding pay I made a mistake in my previous link (the police-information.co.uk website).

This link: http://www.policeoracle.com/pay_and_conditions/police_pay_scales.html outlines the up to date pay scales that have come into effect since the Winsor report, and it also compares it to the previous pay scale. So instead of getting the max band (£36519) in 10 years, you now get there in 7 years.

This means that after 15 years service, 20 years, all the way up until retirement - you will still be on £36519. However would it be possible to boost that up? Sure - there is a new system where officers are paid 10% of their hourly pay for any hours worked between 10pm and 6am, which means if you were working regular night shifts you'd make a bit extra on top of your annual salary. There's also bound to be overtime/AID which will bring in some extra money. It's hard to say exactly how much more you'd make as we can't tell what shifts you'd be working/overtime that is available, but I'd say getting to the 40k mark as a PC wouldn't be hard at all.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the help, going to finish sixth form in May and then I'll see which direction I'm going to take...considering becoming a police officer or an air traffic controller...don't want to go uni you see

if you don't mind me asking what did you end up doing? as i am in the same post ion as you i want to be a police officer or air traffic controller but to be an air traffic controller i would have to move to the NATS college when i leave sixth form

if you became a police officer how did you do it? just aaply when you were 18 or become a special or volounteer??

pleas help

Thanks for the help, going to finish sixth form in May and then I'll see which direction I'm going to take...considering becoming a police officer or an air traffic controller...don't want to go uni you see

if you don't mind me asking what did you end up doing? as i am in the same post ion as you i want to be a police officer or air traffic controller but to be an air traffic controller i would have to move to the NATS college when i leave sixth form

if you became a police officer how did you do it? just aaply when you were 18 or become a special or volounteer??

pleas help

At 18, you'll struggle to become either a police officer or an atc. Competition for the police is very high, and I'd imagine it's as or high or higher for atc. Joining the police as a special, which is voluntary, or getting in as a PSCO would help your chances, but they don't guarantee you entry to the regs, you'll still need to pass the same recruitment tests.

You need to build up life experience, at 18 (I'm 18) people generally don't have that much. For either career path you certainly wouldn't be hindering yourself if you went to college/uni and worked part-time first.

yes i think that's what ill do.

i will have meetings with tutors at sixth form in later days but at the moment im just thinking. i think i need to search more so i am going to e-mail my local force with some questions,maybe go to uni then do some volunteering for local community groups or something like that

i have already signed up for police cadets and st.john ambulance cadets just waiting for replies.

and is it still what you want to do and what are you doing at uni?

Hi, hopefully you do become a police officer. Can you please guide me through the steps through high school an college because I am just about to do my GCSE's and I don't know what grades I need to get?

Even though I am no academically smart, but I know everything about policing and law. I would really like to make my parents proud of me someday!