Complaints against officers

[Walesmjc 28]

Anyone else doing the Inspectors Part 1 next month?

 

Getting close now!

[Wee Man 0]

Anyone else doing the Inspectors Part 1 next month?

Getting close now!

I'm doing the quiz on the 4th - haven't been over-doing the revision though...

[Penbwlch 810]

Good luck, Wee Man.

[Walesmjc 28]

Well at least i'm not on my own! I've not done nowhere near as much as I should've either!! Let me know how it goes, its always handy too see from the forum when the results will be out :)

[Penbwlch 810]

Good luck to you as well, walesmj, and to all other forum members taking it.

[Walesmjc 28]

Thanks Pen, much appreciated

[Penbwlch 810]

I know what you are going through as I passed the Insp exam many years ago (long before OSPRE). Just keep your focus. It is definitely worth passing, if only for the better pension.

[Wee Man 0]

Thanks Pen', you never know, "if in doubt put a "C" might work"

[Stan Still 1]

Thanks Pen', you never know, "if in doubt put a "C" might work"

That only works in the Sergeants Part 1. It's 'B' for the Inspectors exam - trust me, I passed it first time of asking

[Penbwlch 810]

These new fangled easy exams, eh, Stan? When I sat it, you had to know it word perfect (oh, and I passed first time as well). Mind you, my favourite bit was the Knowledge and Reasoning. Do they still have that these days?

[Walesmjc 28]

Ah well that was interesting! I don't know how you found it Weeman? But it was legislation that you probably would have had back when you did yours Pen! Such as Town Clauses Poilice Act 1847, Explosives Act 1833 etc.

All the 'bankers' in areas that I expected to come up (and pretty much come up every year) failed to appear! Such as no Section 60, bail, very few drink drive, few custody officer duties. Ah well always next year

[Penbwlch 810]

Sounds like bad luck, walesmj, but don't give up all hope yet. After all, everyone else will have the same problem.

By the way, isn't it the Town Police Clauses Act? Never used it myself as I was in the Met and we had the Metropolitan Police Act (did much the same things but only in London)

[Stan Still 1]

I think the content of the exam (which obviously we can't discuss because it's a breach of exam rules) depends on how many sergeants or inspectors forces are needing in the next few years.

If it's the same everywhere else, there are three or four years worth of qualified people who haven't even had a sniff of a promotion process yet, so there's not really much demand for any more qualifies officers. So, they make the exam harder, so that fewer pass.

One colleague, who has taken the exam a couple of times, tells me that there were a lot fewer candidates in the hall this year!

[Walesmjc 28]

I think the content of the exam (which obviously we can't discuss because it's a breach of exam rules) depends on how many sergeants or inspectors forces are needing in the next few years.

If it's the same everywhere else, there are three or four years worth of qualified people who haven't even had a sniff of a promotion process yet, so there's not really much demand for any more qualifies officers. So, they make the exam harder, so that fewer pass.

One colleague, who has taken the exam a couple of times, tells me that there were a lot fewer candidates in the hall this year!

Stan the conspiracy theorist in me cannot fail to agree with you, I know from (unfortunate) colleagues opinions who have sat the exam more than once, have advised me that the difficulty level appears to differ from year to year (depending on how many Insp's they need!).

This year was tough (for good reason i.e. no opportunities) and only 2100 sat it across the country (whereas i beleive its more than double that sit it on a typical year) and with the possible 'Royal College of Policing' being created this could well be the last PS to Insp exam, who knows what the promotion process will look like then?

In the meantime there are around 1000 to 1500 officers qualified within my force, and many many more have 'timed out' within the last two years as we undertake the Work Based Assessment (WBA) as opposed to OSPRE Part 2, not to mention the 400+ who will pass the latest exam (of whom I won't be one of them!!). This is for a process which promotes around 150 to 200 at a time which is now every 2 years, and used to be every year until 2009.

I know that most forces only promote around 15/20 Inspectors each year, and during these difficult times not even that any more.

[Walesmjc 28]

Glad to say that i've passed, hopefully won'y have to sit another promotion exam ever again!

Good luck to anyone still waiting on theirs.