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.