General Policing Discussions

Sgt.Susanne Barnett talks about the various things that Police Officers go through and also her personal experience with mental health. From the Recovery Festival 2011: http://vzaar.com/videos/861604 Well worth a watch, really inspiring. *Edit: Also, thanks to call-sign kid: http://mentalhealthcop.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/who-is-protecting-the-protectors/ The article.

Hi All, I'm not new to Police Specials (waits to be shot down for re-registering…I can't remember my old username!!!) but have been away from the police/policing for a lot of years. I'm now in a position that I want (need) to go back to being a Special- but by the looks of things LOTS of things have changed. For a start when I was last in GD coppers wore white shirts and ties, and custodians- that does not look like it happens much nowadays! Also when I was last a Special I had a fair amount of autonomy when on duty, but it now seems that a lot of specials are far more heavily managed; I would be interested to hear people's thoughts on that. I looked into joining th…

I know we are expected to do at least 4 hours a week, but at our information evening I met a guy who was doing 30+ hours in a traffic unit. So I am assuming the more hours = better promotions. So how many hours do you do? And what unit are you in?

I saw this top whilst at work today when a female came riding in wearing it. Obviously it is designed to look like a police vest and therefore make motorists act as though it was a police officer. Just wondering what peoples opinions were on it.

Anyone know how London Allowance/weighting is calculated or who sets it...I'm assuming it'll be getting frozen for Met Reg, but you never know

This might be a bit dark for the Locker Room, but it has an element of humour to it. There's been a few videos floating about showing racist (all women??) people mouthing off on trains. This one has some humour thrown into the mix though. The way the lad on the left of the woman handles the whole thing is absolutely brilliant, all credit to him. Skip to 0:48 to avoid the usual rubbish.

So, thanks to sleeping till 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon because of a hangover, I am now wide awake having a gander round this forum! Anyway, I'm bored, so thought I'd post a topic! Anyone who is currently serving as a regular/special or in the process/want to join the police, ever had a friend/friends who are unsupportive of your job/dream job?? One of my friends who I have known for around 15 years absolutely hates police! She knows that I have applied as a special and she hasn't said much about it apart from "as long as you don't harass me when I'm out and drunk" to which I thought, is she saying police harass people...lol. And on facebook she has actually gone as…

I am interviewing him tomorrow for the Police National Specials Conference. What would you like to ask him. 'Don't have nightmares sleep well'!

Hi As far as I can see (from a search) this has not been done since 2008. I would be interested to know if since 2008 the time to gain independant Patrol Status is taking more or less time or remaining about the same. I managed to complete mine in just short of 6 months and am averaging 10 hours per week on duty. Regards D

Just been sent a pdf for a company called Police Insure (http://www.policeinsure.co.uk/). Apparently they now offer discounts to Specials and partners; Generic advert A4 (Specials).pdf Anyone used them before?

Hey guys, I've been spending hours on these competency questions and there's only three of them. So far I've answered two. I'm feeling confident with it so far. Though I should warn you. If I don't get the job... One of you might be arresting me for tearing down the nearest city

Has anyone bought or heard of Beat Buddy for the iPhone? A regular I was out with last night said that although basic, it was still very useful. It's a fiver so I was wondering if anyone on here could recommend it and if it was regularly updated or not?

Hiya, I'm going to apply for the City of London police (recruitment starting on Monday). I've already been through the Met recruitment (failed at the assessment day because of my role plays and interview), so I know what to expect, but just wondering: is the recruitment process the same as the Met, and also, what's the difference between the Metropolitan police and City of London police? Speaking to our police officer at work CoL mainly deals with fraud as they're in the fraud hotspot. Thanks

I'm attesting in a couple of weeks and just wondered what additional courses are usually available once you get to your division. I guess this will be different with each force etc but can anyone give me a bit of an insight? Attesting with West Yorkshire Police.

With many forces (or indeed 'services') moving away from their military/historic traditions, what remains in your force that you quite like and give you a warm fuzzy feeling? In BTP: I liked the fact that the cap badge acknowledged the old era of more than just trains policing in that in encompassed the British Waterways and Ports type stuff. I liked the number of little police rooms dotted around the railway network from days gone by. I enjoyed the residential training at Tadworth (RIP!) which really helped to build team spirit. In MerPol (that I have learnt so so far): I like that Sergeants are still issued signalling sticks. I like the terminology used. eg 'Con'…