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Police recruitment process
Smithy1204
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/guysmith/2010/06/should_met_recruits_work_their.html
Hoping this doesn't a) Cause an argument (I know police aren't always very popular on here...:p) or b) end up with no replies...:eek:
But yes, it's a suggestion here that Special Constables could become the 'principal point of recruitment' for the Met Police, meaning that an officer would potentially (by the looks of it) have to become a Special Constable for 200 hours first before going on to the law and policing exams.
I was just wondering what people think of that as a potential recruitment strategy?
Hoping this doesn't a) Cause an argument (I know police aren't always very popular on here...:p) or b) end up with no replies...:eek:
But yes, it's a suggestion here that Special Constables could become the 'principal point of recruitment' for the Met Police, meaning that an officer would potentially (by the looks of it) have to become a Special Constable for 200 hours first before going on to the law and policing exams.
I was just wondering what people think of that as a potential recruitment strategy?
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If the Met want to make everyone a special for 200 hours before they can apply to the regular police then it will help them get their numbers of warranted officers up to the required levels by the 2012 Olympics.
If they go ahead with this plan lets hope they have enough support in place for it.
Maybe it's the way forward.Especially with the high unemployment rates at present.Kind of a 'try before you buy' mentality which could work out best for both parties involved(whilst saving loads).
Just out of interest for anyone who knows - would the people who originally had offers be offered a job straight away as soon as they became available (if you see what I mean), or would they have to go through the entire recruitment process again?
I quite like the idea of having officers required to be Specials first. I will never be able to work with the police (rubbish unaided eyesight
I guess it might also solve the problem that Specials at the moment may occasionally be less likely to be recruited as regulars atm in that they're already doing the job (or parts of it) for free, so to speak, so why pay them? I don't know if that's actually an issue though.
Just going on what i've heard.Not my personal opinion.Specials aren't taken very seriously by regular officers.Bit like PCSO's.Denying the regulars a bit of overtime.
The scenario you explain where they had an offer and are told when there's a vacancy was pretty much the situation they were in before the cull. They were in a pool of applicants, and would be informed of the next intake of recruits.
Now they've had their applications terminated, they would need to go through the whole process again.
Ahh, for some reason that didn't occur to me - I know after getting offers, officers have to wait until they are given a start date - forgot to engage brain I think.
No police force is going to take on many new recruits if their grant is about to be cut by up to 25%
Sadly, I suspect you may be right. Although it was bad enough already - are there any police forces recruiting at the moment?
Are there even a lot of forces recruiting for Specials still at the moment? I know Sussex Police aren't even doing that at the moment because there's been so much interest.
he was then summoned to Lloyd House (WMP) and was told that HE WAS NOT going to be given a place in training. - to say he was gutted is an understatement.
I also know of a person who scored 97% in the interview (seen the transcripts/feedback that is given) and because a long distant relative had been in the IRA, they were refused a position - even though this person has in no way had any contact with the 'said' terrorist!
so here, the sins of the father (or distant relative) does impact upon your application!
I'm not sure that is true, I know a few very dedicated Specials who are taken very seriously by regular officers, one of my admin staff is a special and she does an insane amount of hours ever week.
In relation to stealing overtime I don't think that has applied since the late 80's...
Herts is going to be focusing on Specials and Volunteers for the forseeable, and I understand they're still recruiting. Hampshire (?) might be as well, because of the Olympic sailing events.
I disagree on both counts !
Why would PCSO's deny the regulars of any overtime when the majority of work they do is totally different ?
There's a few special constables who work round here who we see more than the full time officers / PCSO's !
It seems that every intake these days loses up to 25% through resignations or reg 13s before the initial 2 years is up and that must cost thousands. Obviously this way of recruitment would reduce both those issues and in theory save money making sure that people are in the job they want to be in and are suitable for.
It would be a 'try before you buy' situation for both potential new officers and forces as well. If you're a special and don't like it you won't apply for the regs. If you're a force who has a special who causes problems you won't recruit them.
The role of a police constable is very popular and each individual job attracts hundreds applicants, so for an intake of 100 you'd get thousands of people applying. I guess no matter how they change recruitment you're always going to have plenty of people lining up to apply.
When I joined the job it took me 8 months from application to start. A lot of my colleagues were between 6 and 12 months. However I have heard of some people taking 12-24 months which does seem a little slow.
They aren't alone in looking closely at specials. I know several other forces that despite stopping their regulars recruitment and no longer taking transferees, are actively seeking hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of new special constables.
I know there's mention at my force of a similar form of recruitment in that they'd look to implement a fast track recruitment system from PCSOs and special constables. The old way would still exist, but those who are currently specials and PCSOs may in the future be able to jump across easier with a more streamlined system. The only current system in place is that PCSOs and specials get to hear of recruitment drives before members of the public, but I don't think we'll be recruiting for at least 12 months, probably longer, the way things are at present.
You are aware that laser vision correction is now accepted by forces in some circumstances? It may be worth looking in to that to see if you can sort it out for the next time recruitment opens up.
That's a common myth. If a special makes the grade when applying for the regulars they'll get the job, it's not a case of them doing it for free so don't accept them. There are actually quite a few specials who can't make the grade to be a regular and getting in to the specials is actually quite a bit easier than getting in to the regulars. Just because someone's a special doesn't mean they are able to pass the recruitment for regulars and it's also sometimes the case that a force will get to see bad habits or undesirable qualities from a special who then applies to be a regular.
Application jumping was seen a lot a couple of years back when some forces raised the score required at the assessment centre by 5% and other's didn't. This meant that those applying to a force requiring a higher score who missed the grade by anything up to 5% could transfer their fail to another force and it would still be a pass as long as it wasn't over 5%. I know of a couple of people who tried applying to the force I work for, when we raised the requirement by 5%, and one of them missed the grade by a couple of points. The Met took their application and continued them in their own recruitment process from where they'd failed with us because they required 5% less at the assessment centre and they're now working in London.
However, the 5% thing has now ceased to exist. All forces that raised the requirement have now dropped that 5% extra again so all forces are the same.
In my experience, having quite a few specials working with me in the past and present, they are normally a welcome addition to the numbers and resources. You do get the odd one that you dread turning up, but you get the same with regulars and that's also the same in any line of work. I know quite a few specials who are very dedicated and I'd happily have them come out with me on patrol any day for the extra pair of hands and the company if nothing else
You'll not normally get the same level of expertise from a special as they have less training and do less hours, but then they tend not to do the same type of jobs. While they have the same powers, our specials tend to be crewed up with a regular officer who is responsible for them and they tend to stick close to them. We also have a 'bus' of specials who use one of our larger vans to form a serial and they patrol the division on their own. These tend to be more experienced and a couple of them are blue light trained too. Very handy when it kicks off and you need as many officers as possible but you wouldn't send them to anything overly complicated.
So all in all I'd say specials are well respected. They come in for free, take the same crap as us and do a good job helping out. And the public can't normally tell the difference either.
Those who understand what PCSOs are there for and what they do tend to respect them. It's normally those who misunderstand the role or work where they aren't used properly who don't appreciate them.
Specials don't normally have the ability to do all the tasks that regulars do, due to the difference in training and experience, so it's rare that they'll ever take overtime away from regulars. They wouldn't be used to police football matches where specialist PSU training is required for example and tend to be more a case of filling up the numbers of regular duty time rather than being used for specialist events and other occasions where over time is payable.
Some forces recently were advertising for transferees because it's a lot cheaper to take trained officers from another force and familiarise them with how your force works than it is to take someone from scratch and train them to be a cop. However even transfers are starting to dry up now with only a few forces continuing to do it and I heard of one force who had accepted some transferees only to later tell them that the position was no longer available for them. Money appears to be really tight!
Yes, there are some forces looking to recruit large number of specials. My own force has put a budget aside to get a load more specials and they are having regular recruitment days to entice people to sign up. I've also noticed a few new faces now and then at my nick as a new special comes to join us.
I've had a few to take out on their first day or two. I quite enjoy giving them their first taste of a violent domestic or a violent drunk willing to take their head off given half the chance. I always look after them, but after it's all done and we get back in the car they're normally very quiet for a few minutes and you can almost see their heart pounding out of them
The only thing I can suggest is you check every week on the policecouldyou website for any other forces opening up and seeing if you can transfer your application - if you are willing to relocate for the job.
Good luck
I've been looking into this and I've read (on PoliceUK) that the A/C pass expiry date only applies when wanting to transfer your pass to another force. I have contact with a quite a few other people who are in the recruitment process with me (same force, same stage etc) and they all think this is the case too?
As for transferring - that would be a last resort. I live on the border of three midland's forces so I have a good choice! I've got my heart set on this particular force though.
Forces can use their discretion with passes, so if your delay in recruitment has been the force's own doing they tend to allow you to continue without restarting from scratch. This discretion is obviously less common with transferring forces because it's not their doing that you've been delayed.
So unfortunately your pass can expire, however you may find in that event the force you've applied to could use their discretion and allow you to continue if they open their doors any time in the future. Just be aware that people have had passes with their original force expire in the past, so it could happen if the delay in opening recruitment up is one of 12 months or more.
Good luck with it
Ahh I see - that make's sense. There are a fair few people I know of who passed the A/C over 12 months ago and are as far as I know still in the process. In fact, I was on the very last A/C date - September. The delay is due to the money situation. I don't think they have any plans to drop us after the results expire as they are going to write to myself (and others) in November regarding interviews.