For me to become a detective, should I go to university or the army (military police)

Hello, I’m in my final year of college doing a level 3 protective services course. I know I want to be a detective in the future however I’m not sure how to get there. I suggested the PCEP DC route however my tutor steered me away from it because she said “I will thrive in uni”. I had a trip today to go to a military base and they talked about different types of jobs someone can get into and one of the jobs mentioned was the military police. I’m wondering if it’s worth going to the army for this particular rank or just going to uni and then doing the PCEP DC route to get into West Midlands Police.

Please let me know . Thank you.

Reply 1

Trinculo

21

Original post by JuliaSkrzyp123

Hello, I’m in my final year of college doing a level 3 protective services course. I know I want to be a detective in the future however I’m not sure how to get there. I suggested the PCEP DC route however my tutor steered me away from it because she said “I will thrive in uni”. I had a trip today to go to a military base and they talked about different types of jobs someone can get into and one of the jobs mentioned was the military police. I’m wondering if it’s worth going to the army for this particular rank or just going to uni and then doing the PCEP DC route to get into West Midlands Police.
Please let me know . Thank you.

To be honest, you have things kind of the wrong way around. They're both good ideas, but for the wrong reasons.

There are two ways to become a detective in the police:

1.

You join directly as a trainee detective, for which you must have a degree. The only real way to do this at the moment is to go to university, study any subject you like and at some point in the future, maybe after having a different job for a year or two after graduating, you apply to the police as a direct entry detective.

2.

You join the police as a police constable, serve at least two years in uniform and then take the detectives exam internally (called the National Investigators Exam) and move to a detective role.

Being in the army will probably help you be a better police officer, and under most entry schemes will help you get into the police. But being in the Royal Military Police probably won't help you very much at all in terms of being a detective. Military Law is nothing like civilian law and a lot of Military Police do very little in the way of investigating crime. I'm pretty sure that a lot of the combat role is to do with directing traffic. If you're going to join the Army, I'd strongly recommend doing something that you think you might enjoy, and will also give you some options -maybe something to do with engineering or signalling or whatever you think.

I knew a guy who was a military policeman and in about 8 years service, the only crime he had investigated was the theft of a bunch of flowers.

Bottom line - if you go to university, it will cost you a lot more but you'll have some options, a degree and had some fun. If you go into the army, your only police option will be as a PC but chances are you'll be good at it and eventually do the detective thing.

Reply 2

Stiffy Byng

19

I add that Military Police mainly provide security at military bases and security and some logistics in the rear echelon of battle areas (so, yes, directing traffic, amongst other things).

Reply 3

JuliaSkrzyp123

OP

1

Original post by Trinculo

To be honest, you have things kind of the wrong way around. They're both good ideas, but for the wrong reasons.
There are two ways to become a detective in the police:

1.

You join directly as a trainee detective, for which you must have a degree. The only real way to do this at the moment is to go to university, study any subject you like and at some point in the future, maybe after having a different job for a year or two after graduating, you apply to the police as a direct entry detective.

2.

You join the police as a police constable, serve at least two years in uniform and then take the detectives exam internally (called the National Investigators Exam) and move to a detective role.

Being in the army will probably help you be a better police officer, and under most entry schemes will help you get into the police. But being in the Royal Military Police probably won't help you very much at all in terms of being a detective. Military Law is nothing like civilian law and a lot of Military Police do very little in the way of investigating crime. I'm pretty sure that a lot of the combat role is to do with directing traffic. If you're going to join the Army, I'd strongly recommend doing something that you think you might enjoy, and will also give you some options -maybe something to do with engineering or signalling or whatever you think.
I knew a guy who was a military policeman and in about 8 years service, the only crime he had investigated was the theft of a bunch of flowers.
Bottom line - if you go to university, it will cost you a lot more but you'll have some options, a degree and had some fun. If you go into the army, your only police option will be as a PC but chances are you'll be good at it and eventually do the detective thing.

Thank you for replying, that was really helpful.

Reply 4

JuliaSkrzyp123

OP

1

Original post by Trinculo

To be honest, you have things kind of the wrong way around. They're both good ideas, but for the wrong reasons.
There are two ways to become a detective in the police:

1.

You join directly as a trainee detective, for which you must have a degree. The only real way to do this at the moment is to go to university, study any subject you like and at some point in the future, maybe after having a different job for a year or two after graduating, you apply to the police as a direct entry detective.

2.

You join the police as a police constable, serve at least two years in uniform and then take the detectives exam internally (called the National Investigators Exam) and move to a detective role.

Being in the army will probably help you be a better police officer, and under most entry schemes will help you get into the police. But being in the Royal Military Police probably won't help you very much at all in terms of being a detective. Military Law is nothing like civilian law and a lot of Military Police do very little in the way of investigating crime. I'm pretty sure that a lot of the combat role is to do with directing traffic. If you're going to join the Army, I'd strongly recommend doing something that you think you might enjoy, and will also give you some options -maybe something to do with engineering or signalling or whatever you think.
I knew a guy who was a military policeman and in about 8 years service, the only crime he had investigated was the theft of a bunch of flowers.
Bottom line - if you go to university, it will cost you a lot more but you'll have some options, a degree and had some fun. If you go into the army, your only police option will be as a PC but chances are you'll be good at it and eventually do the detective thing.

I would like to ask which one would be more suitable for as I’m currently struggling which of those to pick.

Reply 5

Trinculo

21

Original post by JuliaSkrzyp123

I would like to ask which one would be more suitable for as I’m currently struggling which of those to pick.

You're looking at 3 career paths, all of which end up with you (hopefully) becoming a detective.

1.

You go to university, then join the police under some kind of graduate detective scheme.

2.

You join the army, after some period of service, you leave and join the police under a PCEP scheme and eventually become a detective.

3.

You join the police after college without doing either of the above two things on a PCEP scheme and eventually become a detective.

Route 1 is going to be the most expensive. You will be paying for university and your living expenses. All in this will probably come to between £30-60,000 which you are most likely to fund on long term student loans which will most likely take about 20 years to pay off. The benefit is that you will have a degree of some sort which will give you an option for certain types of other employment if the police doesn't work out for you either in the long or short term. Another thing to consider is what exactly you would be doing at university. You would have to score quite high on your BTEC - probably in the DMM or above range to get in. If you have no clear idea of what you would want to read (study) at university, I'm not sure its the best idea as you'd be committing 3+years of your life and an enormous amount of money to something that you're not really sure of what or why you're doing it. Other benefits are that you may well have some fun and make some friends - and that's not something you can discount. In terms of direct skills for policing - depending on what course you take, there might be some but it is a very expensive way of developing them. If you read some kind of Law degree, there will almost certainly be a module on Criminal Law. This will help you a little bit going forward. Other skills would be the ability to write coherently and at length, and hopefully develop some IT skills.

Joining the Army is an odd one. On the plus side you will gain some physical fitness, which is good no matter what. You will also get some experience of discipline and self-confidence and hopefully a professional outlook. On the downside, the Army is not for everyone. You might not like it, and a lot of it is just about your personal tolerance for doing things that you might not really want to do. If you really enjoy the outdoor life and being cold and wet, then maybe it would work out for you. Again, there is the question of what you would do in the Army. I would strongly recommend something that would give you a non-police option. The military police is probably quite a poor choice as it doesn't really give you any options after the Army. I would look at any of the support arms - medical or technical. I don't really know what an Army Environmental Health Technician does, but it sounds like you'd be able to get a job after. Same with almost any of their signalling or network type jobs. With these driver type roles, if you can't see yourself driving a lorry in the future, is there really much point other than having a bit of a laugh? All told, the Army will probably make you a better police officer and help you become a police officer - but maybe not help you become a detective later on.

Finally - do neither of the above. Finish your BTEC and try and get a job doing pretty much anything for a few years. This might be working in Waitrose or pretty much any job you can get. Then, join the police after 4-5 years on a PCEP type programme and take it from there. The benefits of this are you will be earning money, gaining some life experience and progressing a police application slow-time with no pressure on you. Let's say for example you are working at Waitrose. There is no time pressure on you to leave and because police application processes can be notoriously slow, you can just make the applications with the security of a job and earnings. Another thing to consider is that you might not be successful first time. One of the big plus about this is simply that you'll be growing up a bit. Whilst people can and do join the police at 18-19, it's not the best idea. A lot of your role will be resolving problems and conflicts in the street or in people's homes. This isn't so easy when you don't necessarily have much life experience, and it's also hard for you to be taken seriously. For example, lets say you go to a domestic dispute where a couple have been in a mutually antagonistic relationship for 10 years and are harassing one another over who has to move out of their shared home. As an 18 year old who might not have even ever rented their own flat and whose longest relationship was six months long in Y10, you can see how it might be challenging to fully appreciate the issues at hand and to be taken seriously by the involved parties. Another thing to consider might be some kind of security work. This might not necessarily be being a security guard as such, it could be working with CCTV or the like. This might give you good experience of confrontation and some skills like statement writing. The downside is it's probably quite dull.

Ultimately, you have to make a decision for yourself taking into account your own financial situation, what you like doing etc. Consider what I've said, but don't blindly take my advice as I've never met you and have never walked a day in your shoes. I have, however been a police officer for quite some time. My advice would be:

•

don't go to university unless you can afford it and have a clear idea of what you would study and why.

•

don't join the army unless you think you will enjoy it and get something out of it. Don't join the RMP unless you have a really, really good reason to do so. Helping you join the civil police is not a good one.

•

don't be impatient with joining. Early to mid 20s is when most people become police officers. The joining process can be slow and if you have a job that you "don't mind" it's not a bad thing to have the attitude "if it doesn't happen this year, I can wait".

Reply 6

lxstdaisy

7

Original post by JuliaSkrzyp123

Hello, I’m in my final year of college doing a level 3 protective services course. I know I want to be a detective in the future however I’m not sure how to get there. I suggested the PCEP DC route however my tutor steered me away from it because she said “I will thrive in uni”. I had a trip today to go to a military base and they talked about different types of jobs someone can get into and one of the jobs mentioned was the military police. I’m wondering if it’s worth going to the army for this particular rank or just going to uni and then doing the PCEP DC route to get into West Midlands Police.
Please let me know . Thank you.

If you do decide to go to university then have you thought about joining the Special Constables alongside your studies to give you some policing experience before joining the regs/ the detective entry route? I'm currently in college doing a foundation year and I've nearly completed my training to go operational and so far I'm really enjoying it so that could be something you could consider perhaps?

Reply 7

JuliaSkrzyp123

OP

1

Original post by lxstdaisy

If you do decide to go to university then have you thought about joining the Special Constables alongside your studies to give you some policing experience before joining the regs/ the detective entry route? I'm currently in college doing a foundation year and I've nearly completed my training to go operational and so far I'm really enjoying it so that could be something you could consider perhaps?

I have thought about it however I’ve been told that the degree that they provide you with is useless outside of being a police officer

Reply 8

Stiffy Byng

19

Which degree do you have in mind?

Reply 9

JuliaSkrzyp123

OP

1

Original post by Stiffy Byng

Which degree do you have in mind?

Criminology

Reply 10

Trinculo

21

Original post by JuliaSkrzyp123

Criminology

If you think you'll enjoy it and have a stonking good time at a half decent university - then go for it. However, do understand going in that Criminology is not the study of crime, it is the study of why people commit crime, and the majority of modern undergraduate criminology is devoted to exploring excuses as to why everyone and everything is to blame for crime - except criminals.

For me to become a detective, should I go to university or the army (military police)

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