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Can I become a police officer with a mild disability

Hi, I’m in year 12 and I have always wanted to be a police officer and eventually a homicide detective, however I can’t seem to get a straight answer whether I can be one or not, I have a very mild form of cerebral palsy that causes me to slightly walk on my top toes on my left foot, and I can’t open my left arm open all the way, however I can still run, jump and do other activities perfectly fine, I even go to the gym, lift weights and jog, but I’ve been told that “yes you can be one” “no you can’t” and “yes you can but would be at a disadvantage (I.e I can be one but they would probably pick more able-bodied people over me) even my careers advisor at my school can’t tell me yes or no
So does anyone know if I stand a chance or should just give up?
I think you can. Go for it.
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X.kaylem.X
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Original post by SagaciousSag
I think you can. Go for it.


Thanks, I appreciate your reply and which route do you think I should take after sixth form to become one, do a related degree (like criminology), apply straight away, or try and find a police apprenticeship?
Police officers have to do physical training so they can quickly run after suspects. If running is something you struggle with then it could be an issue :/
Original post by X.kaylem.X
Hi, I’m in year 12 and I have always wanted to be a police officer and eventually a homicide detective, however I can’t seem to get a straight answer whether I can be one or not, I have a very mild form of cerebral palsy that causes me to slightly walk on my top toes on my left foot, and I can’t open my left arm open all the way, however I can still run, jump and do other activities perfectly fine, I even go to the gym, lift weights and jog, but I’ve been told that “yes you can be one” “no you can’t” and “yes you can but would be at a disadvantage (I.e I can be one but they would probably pick more able-bodied people over me) even my careers advisor at my school can’t tell me yes or no
So does anyone know if I stand a chance or should just give up?

For the absolute facts, the only thing you can do is go to the relevant force's careers page and get hold of an advisor on a chat.

I have a feeling that the answer would be yes - so long as you can pass a fitness and functionality test. Again - this is just me saying and not any kind of actual fact.

My personal recommendation on how you should get to be a MIT detective is to go to the best university you can and read any degree that you enjoy and would help you get any other job. Law, maths, whatever. Then apply for either PC or DC entry (depending on what your force offers). You have the flexibility to go and do other things if you change your mind or find you don't like it. If you join as a PC, you may find yourself doing physical duties that may or may not be a problem for you - guarding crime scenes or public order aid - I have no idea if these are issues for you with respect to your disability.

If you join as a DC, other than annual OST, it's not that likely you'll do very much physical exertion. Depending on your force, you'd probably do stints in CID and Safeguarding and then the way to get to a MIT is to just show that you're a really good detective who gets really good results. You'd just have to handle the cases you get given early on and do a good job, and apply for a MIT position when it comes up.

Hope it goes well for you, whatever you decide to do.
(edited 1 year ago)

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