Why ex-soldiers are joining the Police

The Police has a lot in common with the army

There are a lot of similarities between the army and a Police, for example both wear uniforms and follow a strict ethical code, both the army and the Police are sworn to protect people. Both types of forces operate in stressful conditions that ordinary people would run from. It is no surprise then that after recent army cutbacks and redundancies that many ex-soldiers are choosing to join the ranks of the Police.

Transferable key-skills

Ex-army candidates can usually display all of the key-skills required by the Police as they themselves have direct experience of using them in their previous role. Previously being in the army usually guarantees that the applicant will be able to meet the physical demands of the job as well as the mental ones such as being able to focus under pressure and display mental resilience to the sometimes shocking things that they may see in their daily work.

Being a Police officer also required applicants to be able to respect the chain of command and operate exclusively within the responsibilities of their rank. This is something ex-army members are usually able to excel at as it is often drilled in to them from their very first day in the army that they must respect the chain of command.

As well as this, the Police offers a sort of 'half way house' between serving in a military capacity and reintegrating in to civilian life particularly if they've come back from active combat.

The Police application forms are becoming harder to get

The increasing number of ex-soldiers applying to join the Police means that competition is becoming more fierce than ever and the caliber of applicants is increasing. While this may be good for the Police it is making the already difficult task of becoming a Police officer or indeed even getting one of the limited number of application forms, even more difficult.

The Police background check.

The Police background check

The Police background check is one of the first hurdles on the road to becoming a Police Officer. It is an essential stage in the process from your Police Force’s point of view. It is carried out to ensure that the Police only employ people with the utmost integrity and good character to become Police Officers after all, the job gives people the right to essentially take away the freedom of others and often places individuals in positions of great trust and responsibility.

The best advice for filling in the background check is to answer truthfully and fully anything else can get your application thrown out at this early stage.

There are certain things that can get you application declined, these include prior criminal convictions or driving offences, tatoos in highly visible places especially if they're inappropriate in nature as well as any debts or defaults on loans etc. The last point regarding money issues is important to your force as employing officers who are highly in debt or have money troubles can be a risk to an officer's integrity.

The form may seem particularly intrusive, much of the information that you are required to submit can seem personal and you may no wish to share it with others ordinarily. However you need to understand that it is a necessary step.

You are also asked to declare the information of family members and friends. This section is used to check that those around you are of a trustworthy nature. Again simply list the details and accept the necessity of this section.

There isn't really any advice to filling in your background check the right or wrong way as you must simply be truthful. If you fail the check or and not eligible to progress onwards to the next section of recruitment then unfortunately there is little that can be done.

Choosing a career in the Police

Do I need to be a Police officer to join the Police?

Many People's experience of the Police and their thoughts on what it would be like to become a Police officer are based exclusively of TV programmes and criminal dramas, but does this accurately reflect what the job is like? Most crime dramas focus on the role of a Police Officer and in particular Police detectives because these are the easiest Police jobs to dramatise, however there are a number of career routes possible within the Police.

Many people's reason for join the Police is to help people and there are a number of ways to achieve this goal within the Police without actually working on the front line.

Police constables are what most people imagine when they think of the Police. These are the type of Police officers that you are most likely to see on a daily bases. They're job is to respond to emergencies, conduct patrols and build relationships with the public. It takes extraordinary courage and resilience to be a Police Constable, it is one of the most difficult jobs in the Police force.

Other routes to a career in the Police 

There are a number of career paths as an officer. Once an Officer has served his or her probationary two year period 'on the beat' they can choose to specialise. The length of this probationary period can vary from force to force it is worth noting. After this period, an officer can choose to specialise in a particular vocation such as the 'Armed Response Unit', they can become dog-handlers, child protection Officers, CID etc, many of these specialisations take Officers of the direct front line of policing and offer a different career path for advancement.

The Police could not function without the thousands of Police staff working behind the scenes organising and administrating the entire agency. These people, although not directly involved in Policing keep the whole machine running. They can be responsible for things such as recruiting, running background checks, sorting out internal matters, issuing firearms licenses and so much more. This is another way to serve your community if front line policing isn't for you.

Have you thought about becoming a PCSO?

Half way between front line policing and Police staff are the PCSOs. They're function is to actively build relationships in the community and very often be the face of the Police in places such as schools and neighbourhood meetings. They often carry out essential evidence gathering that gets passed on to Police Constables but do not directly get involved in the more violent or forceful aspects of Policing as they do not have the full power of arrest. This can be a useful way to gain experience to join the full Police force but many people prefer the role to that of a Constable as it suits their personality better.

As you can see there are many ways to be a part of the Police. The above is by no means an exhaustive list but it may give you some alternate career routes to think about.

Why become a Police Officer?

Some people know from an early age exactly what they want to be but for most of us this isn't the case. There'll be a number of people out there that have known that they want to join the Police force from a very young age but for most applicants this isn't true. If you find yourself thinking 'do I really want to be a Police Officer? Surely I should have known by now' then stop. The average joining age of a Police Officer is age 27, this indicates that most Police Officers will have had a variety of careers before they join the Police and therefore haven't always known that they wanted to join.

A few things to consider before becoming a Police Officer

There are a number of things that you need to ask yourself and a number of things that you need to consider before you do make the decision to pursue a career in the Police force however, regardless of your age.

There's no other way of putting it, being a Police Officer is a difficult and demanding job both mentally and with regards to your social life, are you ready for this? Are you the sort of person who is mentally resilient and who would voluntarily give up personal free time for their job? If you answer no to any of these questions then you may want to turn back here.

You need to be ready to carry out a wide variety of roles as a Police Officer, you need to be able to form close relationships easily with members of the community, you should be able to build trust and always maintain your integrity and act ethically even whilst under extreme pressure.

Key qualities of a Police Officer - 

Not only is being a Police Officer a demanding role but you need to have the right personality traits and core values in order to be a valuable and effective member of the Police. The Police application form has 6 core competencies that the Police require you to be particularly strong in. These are: Respect for race and diversity, Resilience, Team-working, Customer Focus, Problem Solving and Effective Communication. If you lack the ability or necessary strength in these areas then the Police may not be a career for you.

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Job satisfaction

While the above may dissuade some people form joining the Police it serves as a sieve that separates the weak candidates from the strong and ensures that the Police only get the very best candidates joining their force. If you believe that you have the necessary qualities required by the Police, then a career in the Police Force can be one of the most rewarding things that you can do.

There aren't many other jobs that offer you the ability to directly effect people's lives for the better. To fight crime and injustice, to make sure that the 'bad-guys' get put away. To come home and the end of the day and know that you've made your local town/area a safer place.

If you're already on your way to becoming a Police Officer and have managed to get yourself a Police application form, you can get help filling it in at http://applicationformpolice.co.uk

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How to become a Police Officer

Welcome to the very first post in a series of blog posts that aim to provide information to aspiring Police Officers on exactly how they can join their desired Police force. We are going to be covering a wide range of topics and will be discussing things such as reasons for joining the Police, getting Police application forms, filling the forms in correctly, joining requirements and eligibility and so much more.

We know that the internet is awash with information on joining the Police. We know though that you can't depend on everything you read on the internet, a lot of the information out there is outdated, irrelevant or just plain incorrect. We are going to ensure that this blog contains the very latest information on applying to become a Police Officer so that candidates know they are getting accurate and useful information.

Becoming a Police officer is no easy task, especially in this hiring climate where the number of applicants has sky rocketed and competition merely to get an application for can be fierce. On this site we are going to lay out the basic steps that will help get you there and hopefully take away some of the stress of applying to become a Police officer. There are so many steps and stages in the process of becoming an Officer that it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, by breaking the entire process down and showing you how to progress through each step individually we hope to make sure that you never feel this way during the entire process.

As well as this,  we are going to teach you the do's and don't of becoming a Police Officer and the potential pitfalls to avoid, take it from us, there are many!

We'd be happy for you to share any of our articles as our aim is to inform and help as many people as possible.

If you have any questions at all, the authors of this blog would love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to get in touch.