2021/22 Detective Constable Met Police Grad Scheme

I still haven’t received my welcome pack yet and I’m starting in September too! I know about 4 people who have had theirs and I’m still waiting 🥲

Guys - about this welcome pack.

It's not going to be like joining Ernst & Young, where the Welcome Pack will be a branded backpack, corporate fleece, three pens and detailed instructions on your start date, all the contacts you need in HR and your department.

This is the Metropolitan Police. 6 hours before you are due to start, you will get an email with three word attachments which will be out of date, contain incorrect information and filled with spelling mistakes.

He’s constantly negative and leaving unhelpful comments.

And, he’s totally incorrect. You would never be left until 6 hours before to get your welcome pack because as you probably already know, you will receive your borough and all info for you first few weeks about where to be etc.

He brings a lot of negativity to a really useful thread, and it’s a shame to see a serving officer bring such a feel to a thread for new recruits.

If you’ve not received your welcome pack by 10 days before you start, then you need to give them a call.

When are you starting?

In my opinion I believe @Trinculo actually benefited this thread a lot, and helped out with new recruits by guiding them with correct information about the met.

Every information given by Trinculo has been realistic and useful. I’m pretty sure recruits would rather have direct information rather than bullsh** fed by the Met.

Either way, anyone joining fresh to the met should be prepared to go through a boring period with little useful information being given by the met to assist with your start on your coming duties. Experience is the only way you learn properly from being a police officer within the met.

Are you currently in the job?

Are you currently in the job?

The likelihood is he/she isn't, and if he/she is then is this a firm and fair representation of Policing ? Likely not.

additional irony to the profile name is as such:

Trinculo - The kings jester in the very well known Shakespeare play (and one of my favourites)....The Tempest

or infact the very well documented moon that orbits the planet Uranus.

So I let the good people of TSR make the decision - A jester or simply one that orbits Uranus.

You're wrong and right.

Wrong - I am in the job.

Right - I am not a fair representation of policing. I am about as sympathetic toward DEs and other graduate entrants / new officers as its possible to be. The majority of serving police officers think the direction that recruitment has taken is the wrong one and that the programmes people are entering on are inadequate to the point of putting everyone involved in danger. I do not subscribe to that view, but I certainly understand the shortcomings.

The only things that I have repeated throughout these threads as a theme - is not one of negativity - but one of caution. I constantly advise people to not form social media groups until they have met in person, to take care with social media groups. My biggest concern (as I have repeated) is the seeming lack of interest in the job for entrants. Its a minority of people on here who ask any questions other than variations on "why is it taking so long?"

I strongly believe that many of the people who have passed through the forums will go on to be good or even excellent at the job. Some, invariably won't. No one will have been served in any way by the lack on information they are given, or from the geenral veil of ignorance that they join under. I think it's essential to know what you are getting into, and what the shortcomings are of the training you will receive.

With more than 40k met police out there we shouldn’t be taking every word that one person says as the truth, especially one that is in this chat seemingly for the sole purpose of putting people down if they decided they want to be a dc rather than pc

How would you summarise the first 2 years as a PC from your experience?

How true is it that the Met is very “cliquey” stick in groups and you’re either one of them and they accept you or you will always feel like an outsider.

What tips would you give to us new recruits for when we join? (What to do and not to do, anything in particular we should pay attention to?)

Also, I’ve heard in some boroughs there is an underlining racism that you can feel if you’re from an ethnic background. How true is this?

i’ve applied a while back so just recently joined this chat, but both in 20/21 and this chat you’ve repeatedly been pushing people to explain why they want to be a dc, telling them they’re silly for not taking the 5k and the ‘better’ role of pc. Plenty of examples.

I appreciate the good advice you give and the tips that probably people won’t know straight away, but other things are uncalled for. If you want to be helpful and provide good advice, then do just that.

In no way at all have I put anyone down for making such a choice. What I have said (and this should be obvious) is that the DE DC route has distinct disadvantages - the most critical of which is that it produces detectives who have no experience of policing, and is also a very career limiting path.

It is true that I cannot think of a single advantage of taking the DE DC pathway over becoming a PC first - and if they are offering thousands of pounds to undertake a pathway with no disadvantages...you are indeed silly to pass that up, although I don't recall ever using that word. I think that's your terminology, not mine.

I see this as a very positive thing - at long last there is some engagement on this thread. I strongly urge you to continue this discourse and surely you should want to know *why* someone thinks a particular route is optimal or not.

If you think otherwise - I'm entirely open to hearing why.

I’m not really looking to have a back and forth in proving to an internet stranger why I want to do something. Unlikely you I don’t have loads of time to sit around on threads arguing with people for no apparent reason (so I won’t come back with a response should you message back).

this is the DC pathway thread, so surely most people here will be for the DC role?

as I said, if you want to be helpful and provide useful advice, do just that.

I’m not really looking to have a back and forth in proving to an internet stranger why I want to do something. Unlikely you I don’t have loads of time to sit around on threads arguing with people for no apparent reason (so I won’t come back with a response should you message back).

this is the DC pathway thread, so surely most people here will be for the DC role?

as I said, if you want to be helpful and provide useful advice, do just that.

A very steep learning curve. You go from thinking you know something about crime and policing to realising you know nothing about it. Then you realise you know nothing about the job and don't seem to get anywhere. Then out of the blue sometime around the 3 year mark, you just get it and realise you can do the job.



In my experience, not true at all outside of certain mobs like 19 and TSG - and they're much more about making you one of them, than keeping you out.


Look after yourself at all times. Show that you can do the job you have before you try and do someone else's. Never let your guard down in front of the public. They are by and large not on your side. Exercise the utmost caution with social media, and don't be in any Whatsapp groups if you can help it. If something feels wrong, it probably is. Never let the ****s control a situation. If you call up safeguarding for direction, always get a name. While you are in probation, never never try and bosh anything on your own.



I can honestly say I have never seen any evidence of this from the police. From the public and the criminals - unfortunately you will probably experience this at some point. You just have to work out for yourself how best to deal with it.