Police Officer here. Ask me anything about working for the Police!

Makes sense, you've clearly thought it all through and have it well planned. I wish you all the best.

I'm from South Wales - most of the solicitor jobs around here are not the big city big money types. They are likely on par to top whack PC / Sgt. I can completely see your point of view.

Interesting RE promotion. Most colleagues I meet have absolutely no interest.

I'm going to try and go down the Detective route soon. It seems there's a lot more different job roles to have a crack at.

To the OP - Didn't want to derail your post, just offer an alternative angle should anyone want it

Sup,

Can police officers check to see if their friends and/or family have a criminal record or being investigated? Would certainly make Christmas dinner awkward if you found out your nan is a renown druglord

Sup,

Can police officers check to see if their friends and/or family have a criminal record or being investigated? Would certainly make Christmas dinner awkward if you found out your nan is a renown druglord

Very briefly:

1. I have absolutely no desire to get promoted, especially when being promoted is less money, up to Chief Inspector.

2. The pay is fine if you don't have a degree, but, i'm at the stage now where all of those people who did graduate have caught up on the pay-scale. I need a goal at work.

3. In my role, i'm probably at the peak of what I can do. My choices are, to leave and do a different role which wouldn't enjoy as much, or get promoted. This leads me back to point 1.

4. I would prefer to be rewarded for good work through a bonus scheme.

All of that said, I still enjoy work. I never wake up thinking I don't want to go in. I've never felt stressed because of work and its never got on top of me. It doesn't affect me in the same way as some others.

I want to at least give 'City Law' a try. If it takes me 3 years + 1 year LPC to land a 50k salaried job, which is a DS wage, then I would say it would be worth it considering how the pay shoots up after your TC. In the last 6 months I have completed at Access Course and got in to, arguably, the top Law School outside of Oxbridge, so i'm going to give it a good crack over the next couple of years. If it all doesn't work out, I know I could go back and then put my mind to getting promoted.

What turned you off the private sector?

Hi, what do you mean by 1?

Promoted gives you less money is how I read it. At a guess, you have to work a lot more hours than 40 hours but when you calculate the hourly rate staying as PC or Sgt pays more?

You are paid a salary from Inspector and above whereas although at Constable/Sergeant you are salaried, its actually based off an hourly rate. There is no overtime pay for Inspector and above.


DC's and DS's work many, many more hours than DI's generally do (as they supervise rather than complete the work). On our team, the DS earns much more than the DI and the DC's such as I earn about the same as the DI.

Thank you.

So DCs work a lot of overtime so end up getting similar money to a DI. But how do the hours differ? E.g. Assume both make £50k. So a DC works on average 55hrs per week to make that £50k but the DI only needs to work 40 hours to make £50k even if salaried. I'm assuming 40 hours is not the norm for DIs either but they don't get paid for it

Its quite variable. Sometimes the DI will stick about if there's decisions to be made, but quite often those decisions can be made by a DS. There's no incentive for them to stay though as they aren't being paid.

Of course, you need to work longer to earn the same money but the culture isn't "I have to work X hours today and I earn X", its "We work until the job is done". In that respect, "doing the job", DI's often are spending time at work for 'free'.

I get all of that but that's the question.

Do DIs work so many free hours to the extent that promotion is pointless?

If they work say average 45 hours per week then it ain't bad. If they work 60 hours a week on average then they are hilariously underpaid.

Well being underpaid is subjective.

If they work 60 hours a week for £50k a year, and your average Amazon delivery driver does the same for £25k a year, who is underpaid?


I guess the point I am making is - I wouldn't necessarily say promotion pointless, as there is no other way to achieve the higher ranks within the Police without having passed through the prior ranks. Unfortunately, in doing so, you must sacrifice pay for a period of time. It is for this reason, it simply doesn't appeal to me, primarily, as I have no desire to reach the upper echelons of the service.

That being said - are you paid a higher salary for a higher rank? Yes. Its simply that overtime is not paid pro-rata and is now 'included as part of your salary package'.

Hi , Sorry if this sounds stupid , do police work hand in hand with lawyers ? Like do they have partners etc ?

Have you ever tasered a bad hombre?

I am not taser trained so it's a no on that one!

whats the most illegal someone has ever done that you have arrested them for???

As above..

But surely the Amazon delivery driver has zero stress in comparison to the stress levels of a DI? 60hrs a week for £25k is surely under min wage or close enough to it...

This may sound completely counter-intuitive, but I am considering policing because the hours are technically better than what I am doing now i.e. finance/accounting! I don't mind doing overtime every now and then so that the working hours would be around 45 per week on average, even 50 is okay. Doing 60 hours on top of travelling and exams is not for me! (In regards to finance/accounting)

I see a lot of police just chill in traffic in their cars when someone speeds past in the day. Is there some kind of leniency?

Let this be said, it's a great job and a great career. You will see, learn and do things that you never thought you would. Despite my groaning above, I would recommend it.

One thing you have to sacrifice with Policing however is money. I remember one of the old sweats I used to work with telling me very early on in my career - "You'll never be poor in the Police, but you'll never be rich". This sentiment rings true today. That being said, outside of London, and to a point the more north you go, £50k is absolutely nothing to scoff at for someone who has no academic qualifications (Me). But, the entry barrier into Policing is being raised which does make me questions its "value for money".

With the Public sector, I appreciate that the lower salary can be counteracted by other benefits, such as a "good" pension scheme (this has already been stripped down 3 times since I have been in [10 years] and I no longer pay into it), "fair" working conditions, etc. I also appreciate that you cant dangle a huge salary in front of people for this job because you don't want to do it for the money, it should be a job for someone who is public spirited. Take MI5 for example, starting wages for their intel officers is £30k, and that's in the centre of London!

If you do choose to apply, please feel free to PM me. I have helped a few people with their queries about joining and helped them with the assessment process