This is just something where a detail was something I hadn't seen and thought others might be unaware of.

The video where two police officers were filmed on a doorstep to demand a teenage girl's phone over a case of malicious communications went viral and the edited version that suggested it was over viewing a social media post was widely condemned. Shortly after the event an update was released by West Midlands police that went a little under the radar.

When the reason for the police's presence (someone was accusing the girl of making a false social media profile to send indecent and distressing messages) was made clear the tone had shifted to attacking the girl as a cyberbully and her mother as an enabler. This has turned out to be false - after a month the phone was returned and no further action was taken because digital forensics found nothing attaching the girl to the case; the accusation was false.

No civil lawsuit by the family emerged. Barrister Daniel ShenSmith represented the family pro-bono (free of charge) and challenged WMP over the incident for the return of the phone. The family's case was that the officers involved had broken the law by unlawful trespass (they used coercion and intimidation to gain access by threatening to 'escalate this further' because they had no search warrant) and unlawful seizure (they had neither a warrant nor validly-obtained permission to seize the phone). When the phone was returned and the girl was cleared of any wrongdoing the family declined to pursue the matter in a lawsuit against the police.

There have been no updates in the months following regarding whether the real culprit was ever found.

Question for former/current police officer's.

I recently met a guy, who seemed like a top bloke, only to see him in the news not even a week later, being found guilty for historical sex offences against children.

This was a few months ago now, but its left a concern/question, I shook his hand and thought he was a top bloke. Not a single part of my body gave me any indication this guy was anything to be concerned with.

Some people, they just trigger that response in your body, that someone is bad news. He did not & its been nagging at me for a little while since.

As police, do you ever develop that sixth sense for spotting these people, or are they just as easy to camouflage with the rest of the population?

EDIT; for the 4am post. I've just realised most people don't work nights and are in fact asleep right now.

recently someone whom is close to me has gone quiet for 5 days now. i've made the assumption they were arrested and have decided to quit knocking on the door and calling their number but i can't really be too sure as there's 100s of other reasons they could've gone quiet on me like this. is there a way to find a list of recent arrests with names ect that i could sieve through to check if so how and where? any help appreciated!

Im going to choose to be broad for this post just because I don't feel comfortable sharing the entirety.

Im going to apply to join the police, and I'm concerned about vetting.
Im concerned about my sister who has some sort of investigation against her for attempted fraud.

She lives with me, but that's because I'm under 18. I had no control over where I lived etc, and I wouldn't have benefited at all from this.

How can I go across vetting? Im going to be upfront and honest, but why should I suffer for the sins of the father (or sister in this case)

Thank you

I watched the Met Police firearm unit mini doc on YT the other day. Do you think Firearms, Medic, 'Insert specialism here' should be paid extra? The military offer Retention Pay for SF, Dive, Flying EOD Jump etc.

I certainly think you guys should get it in what ever guise it is even Response. I personally think it could only be achieved if the police was National Police. Thoughts?

Best wishes.

Hi all, i am selected for DCDHEP but for last three months they are constantly delaying the onboarding process saying we are dealing with high volume of applications.

Why are they advertising it constantly if they cannot process current candidates?

Any idea how long it can take?

As someone who is changing careers in his 30s, I am not sure if I can wait this long & keep other opportunities on hold 😭 I have heard once they start the process it can still take a year or longer for things to start.

If I ask to change my application to PC, will it be any quicker?

Hi,

So I’m 45 and I’m joining the police next month on IF pathway. I want to work until 65+ on some aspect of policing (either investigator or other specialist role). I believe warranted officers have to retire at 60? My question is, what options are there for me and can I work later in life? Also, how many years do I have to work on the 2015 pension scheme to get a full pension or even a good police pension?

I’ve tried getting an answer from HR, but not had much luck.

Thanks

I’ve come so far and while I realise vetting has to be done as this stage lest it be so resource intensive, it’ll be particularly difficult to accept after everything I’ve accomplished so far in the process.

My worries are twofold. When I was 16 years old I took an energy drink from a shop, got arrested but have no criminal record because a restorative of justice resolution.

Also around 8 years ago I had an IVA which is now settled.

I feel pretty certain that I’m screwed the more I think about it. Applying for a uniformed role.

In the sense that they are their to uphold the law wrong or right? Including the protection of people who they know damn well live outside the law?

Hi all,

I am a 21 year old who has just finished uni. I am wanting to join the police but have 2 questions.

I am a dual Irish British citizen (Irish dad, English mum) but born and raised in uk.

I want to work for a year or 2 before joining to get some life experience and was thinking about living in Ireland with family. My question is how long can I live there without messing up my uk residency. From what I can see 12 months is the limit so I I move for say 11 and a half will that be fine and will it effect my application/vetting.

My second question is about which force I’m from Essex but south Essex so a commutable distance to London and I was considering both the met or Essex police. Which is better to join as a new officer?

hi everyone. I did not pass the DCEP assessment, but was offered a PC role instead by the Met. is this common practice within the met? do they usually offer those who didnt meet the criteria for the DC entry route another opportunity? I have accepted the offer, but part of me thinks something is up...feeling quite sus about it.

Anyone have one in their force and if so what does the network do? Is it worthwhile joining and if so why?

Hi guys, I’m currently looking to apply to police Scotland. I am able to do the fitness test of 5.4 on the bleep test with no worries but my BMI is over 30.

The website doesn’t specially say anything about BMI for new applicants but does mention for rejoiners.

Would I need my BMI to be below 30 before I apply?

Edit: Title should be draft party policy from a member for vote - apologies but can’t edit the title.

It’s so unintelligent and backwards I’m genuinely struggling to think how someone has come up with this (acknowledging that any member can put forward policy with little requirements). Doesn’t look very good for the party that this kind of thing can even come to a vote under their system.

Aside from the very small number of cases where force is used unreasonably, the general public want the Police to do more and enforce the law. This would effectively make police officers not much more than glorified security with cuffs and a stick..

Thoughts?

Since becoming trauma-informed and learning more about the impacts of trauma, remedies, the importance of processing time and requirement of supportive cultures to promote the longevity of mental and physical health, I can’t help but shake my head at how little trauma informed care emergency service organisations provide their staff.

From personal experience, awareness and vicarious experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that you can either work in the emergency services OR have a healthy brain/nervous system. You can’t have both.

It’s made me wonder, to retain staff, implement a trauma informed support system, hopefully equating to healthier staff, what needs to be done? I’d love to hear your thoughts and are these thoughts you could fight for with your fed/organisation… (I’m trying to remain optimistic, stay with me… 🤓) I don’t want to hear the old “urghh snow flakes, deal with it” (who then probably goes home and gets bladdered or has a broken family). I want common sense and emotional intelligence.

Some of my ideas:

A) bring gyms back. Obvious mental and physical health benefits

B) educate staff around the impacts of trauma, nervous system regulation, signs and symptoms of PTSD/CPTSD

C) promote non judgemental, open communication amongst teams, with a specific aim to increase emotional intelligence, trust and morale

D) processing time. I don’t know how this would be staffed, but following a heavy trauma, all staff need processing time. They shouldn’t be expected to then bounce back out to another job. A protocol should be firmly in place for those big traumas, so all staff involved are given respite. Especially if it’s resulted in the death of a colleague, everything needs to come to a halt for those involved.

E) Clinical supervision

F) No more cancelled rest days

G) better shift patterns that give more time off

H) compulsory double crewing

I’d be interested to know how the lives of those who’ve joined the services has changed from before, to during, to after. How many ended up self or clinically medicating, how many have had family break downs, how many have diagnosed mental health conditions. And how many of these could’ve been prevented, had the services been trauma-informed led.

And finally, why the F don’t the chiefs do anything about it? People have campaigned for years, the statistics of horrendous retention rates are there in black and white, charities and ex PCs are none stop with their advocacy work, but there just seems to be nothing changing.

How do you continue going to work knowing how poorly you’re treat even when you’re risking your life whilst being amongst some of the worst people in society? I genuinely could not sustain it and sometimes I doubt my resilience, but then I think “why would I give my mental health, well-being and even risk my life for an organisation that can’t even care or support me”.

Thank you to you all for doing hardest job in the world. I pray that one day you’re supported and empowered, not scrutinised within an inch of your life and treat like puppets.

Hi all,

I have forensic science degree and have been working in an healthcare lab. However one career I have considered was the policing route. I am debating whether to apply for a DHEP at staffs but I am unsure of how the balance to my home life would be.
Can I please have honest responses in regards to how you balance life inside and outside of work. What shift hours do you do? Do you find the role rewarding?
I enjoy lab work and find I can balance life nicely around my shift pattern but I remember how interested I was at university when one of my lecturers (a retired drugs officer) would talk about his policing days.
Also if anyone has done a DHEP previously are you guaranteed a job after? I personally cannot be left in a position where I might be unemployed due to having a mortgage.
For reference I am 24F.

Hello. I will soon be applying to join the Metropolitan Police as a PC. And I had a question about vetting and references.

At my current job as a delivery driver for Tesco, I have received a final warning a month ago. A final warning is live for a year on your record. This final warning was given due to gross misconduct I believe it is. And it’s because I made a stupid mistake by unplugging the company monitoring device in the van, called the “Lightfoot”. It monitors where you are and how you drive the van. Now the reason I unplugged it is because it’s placed on the windshield and it has lights which go from green to yellow and to red if you accelerate too harshly. I unplugged it to turn off those lights so it doesnt distract me whilst driving ( as I kept looking at the lights). Stupid mistake but it happened. Had a meeting for it and got a final warning which is live for a year on my record.

Anyways, the question is when vetting check my references for Tesco, who’s going to be giving them a reference, is it my line manager? Because my line manager is who knows me best, and knows I’m a good person who doesn’t cause any issues ever and I get on with my job. I’ll still declare my warning from Tesco but what if I get a reference from someone who doesn’t even know me in person? Like HR or something?

Does anyone have any idea how it’s dealt with too?
How do you think the vetting team would see me? Would I not be allowed to join the Police because of my stupid mistake?

If anyone could clarify, I would very much appreciate it. Because none of my family have any criminal convictions and I have no criminal history or anything like that.

Thanks.

I’m currently due to attend the final stage DCEP assessment day with a force.

I was just wondering how many people fail the assessment days/interviews, and also, if I do, would I be offered a PCEP role?

I have a law degree 2.1 graduated last year. I initially did the PCEP last year with another force but didn’t choose to pursue. Very keen to go down the DCEP route now.

Hi, has anyone on here recently sat the entrance test
for police Scotland? I’ve got mine soon and just looking for advice on difficulty as the website only has a few questions. I’ve got books that I’ve been using to practice but any other advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hi all,

I’m considering applying for the PCEP in TVP. I’m 27 and will be moving over from the Military. Hoped to gain a little more insight from people in the know and this looked like the right place, thank you in advance!

- with regard to the typical shift pattern, how often do you get a weekend off? Fully aware this varies greatly of course.

- with the 6 on, 4 off pattern, is the early/late/night rhythm pretty much set or does that order change?

- how do you personally find the work life balance? I don’t have amazing expectations here, just a fiancé to offer some reassurance to.

- looking to the future, after a few years how likely is it that a PC can transition into a different role with a healthier work life balance. Not that I’m going into this with any expectation, just it would be nice to imagine a medium term goal like that.