Expert: Chris Wagoner - 11/30/2007

Question
hey chris sam agian i need to do a report in life skills at school so i am doing it on how and what you need to do to be a police officer so it would be helpfull if you told me all the different things that you do in the police force and also completely of the subject my hotmail is samhunt875@hotmail.com im givin you this so if you want to talk to me about anything you can can you email me yours so if i need to talk to you about anything i can because you sound like a man i can thank you

Answer
Hi again Sam,

Well here are the requirements for being a police officer in England:

To become a police officer you must be:

Be 18 years of age when appointed – applications can be processed prior to this being attained
Be of good character
Have a reasonable standard of literacy, numeracy and memory skills
Be financially solvent
Be prepared to live within or in close proximity (subject to approval) to your patrol area.
Meet the requisite standard of physical fitness with good health and eyesight
Be a British citizen or member of the EC or the EEA (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein). Commonwealth citizens and foreign nationals are also eligible but only if they are resident in the UK, free of restrictions. N.B. If you are a Commonwealth citizen or a foreign national you must provide proof that you have no restrictions on your stay in the UK. You should therefore send a copy of your passport that shows that your stay is free of restrictions. Do NOT send your actual passport with your application. Other documentary evidence of your status may be required
A minimum residency of three years to enable meaningful vetting to take place or Certificate of Good Conduct/Police Clearance provided for the country resided in
Since the “pause” on police recruitment has been lifted the requirement to hold a full UK manual driving license has been reviewed. An application will now be accepted if the driving license requirement is not satisfied. However, when a candidate successfully reaches the pre-joining fitness stage of the recruitment process a full UK manual driving license must be held. If not then the application can not be progressed any further and a re-application will be necessary. This will allow any candidates who do not hold a full UK manual driving license to pass their test. This does not affect any candidate seeking exemption under the Disability and Discrimination Act.

Besides that what do we do? Hmmm well if you think about it we do a lot of things.. some people would not think of.
A police officer's main job is to protect his or her fellow citizens. They uphold the laws which are made for the benefit of everybody.

Most people obey the laws but there are some bad people who will hurt or steal from others.

Police Officers protect our homes and streets and sometimes risk his or her life or severe injury in doing so. They also chase lawbreakers and bring them to court where they may be fined or even put into gaol.

They have many duties besides crime prevention and detection. On our roads the Highway Patrol Officers try to stop motorists speeding and driving dangerously, others are in rescue teams to assist people in dangerous situations.

Police Officers can often be seen in their Patrol Cars with red and blue lights on top, or in "Paddy Waggons", on motor bikes, horses, push bikes and even planes and boats.

Most uniformed police officers carry a gun, handcuffs and a two-way radio to contact other police.

Police officers are our friends and protectors.  Without them people would be unable to travel or to work or play or go to school for fear that they would not be safe from the harm caused by bad people and by accidents.

Police officers do a lot of jobs, just think of all the different jobs just inside a police department. Detectives, Forensics, Traffic Enforcement, Marine Patrol, Air Patrol, Narcotics Investigations, Vice Investigations, Rescue Units, Dive team, Motorcycle Unit, Horse Patrol, Animal Abuse Unit, Fugitive Unit, Training Unit, Youth Unit, and many others. Each has a job to do, and they all work together.

I got your E-mail address and will drop you a line soon. Stay safe and get good grades!