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Joining the police


muldoon74

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I'm 44, will be 45 by the time I can join and was wandering if any jkbers have either joined the police later in life or knows anyone who has done so.

 

Ive not thought about joining for a good few years but was on a major job hunt the other night and noticed there's no upper age limit for them, although mandatory retirement at 60. The way I see it I'll get 15 years of a reasonably well paid job with a bit of a pension. Also a last shot at a job that I may actually enjoy with prospects into different areas.. 

 

So anyone got experience of joining later in life? How'd u get on? Still in it or any stories of being forced out through ageist bigotry or the like? 

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Jambo-Jimbo

Have a mate who left the Army after doing 18 years and joined the Police, he was in his early 40's at the time, he's now a Sergeant.

 

Of course he had the advantage of coming from a military background, so he was used to the discipline, already had firearms experience and being a Sergeant in the army he was used to being in charge of x number of troops, and after joining the Police he rapidly climbed the ladder.

 

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I don't know how it is now, but when I joined in 1952 if you told the recruiting officer Chief Inspector Cribbes that you were joining for the pay and pension, you became a non candidate. When I came to Canada I even with experience couldn't be hired because I was too old at 32.

Thats my tearful story, although it had c hanged by the time I retired, I would suggest if you are in good physical condition, mentally attuned to stress, and misfortune of others it c an be a full and interesting occupation, with as you stated benefits.

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I've a small amount of military experience and have been a prison office so disciplined environments have formed a good portion of my life.. Sights don't really bother me much (seen fair share of death and dead bodies, its smells that get to me!).. 

 

I've some weight to lose and realise this may be a stumbling block time wise, although I've started in January and lost 2st with another few to go.. 

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maroondevo52

My son's up in the Police Scotlands training base at Tulliallan, he said one of the fittest guy's there is a new recruit who's 55.

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8 hours ago, maroondevo52 said:

My son's up in the Police Scotlands training base at Tulliallan, he said one of the fittest guy's there is a new recruit who's 55.

Your son should probably keep things professional.

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Mac_fae_Gillie
10 minutes ago, IronJambo said:

Your son should probably keep things professional.

Iffy lad in this modern world you can be jailed for be homophobic and could be his son and a 55yr old arresting you. Do not give them cause for a strop search..

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William H. Bonney
14 minutes ago, Mac_fae_Gillie said:

Iffy lad in this modern world you can be jailed for be homophobic and could be his son and a 55yr old arresting you. Do not give them cause for a strop search..

 

Eh? 

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Better call Saul
4 hours ago, Carl Weathers said:

Fair play to anyone doing that job. Arresting proper nutjobs wouldn't be my cup of tea! 

Aye spot on ....

I have watched some police documentarys recently and jeeezo it's a thankless task. 

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On 29/03/2019 at 09:05, muldoon74 said:

I've a small amount of military experience and have been a prison office so disciplined environments have formed a good portion of my life.. Sights don't really bother me much (seen fair share of death and dead bodies, its smells that get to me!).. 

 

I've some weight to lose and realise this may be a stumbling block time wise, although I've started in January and lost 2st with another few to go.. 

Both of those previous professions will stand you in good stead. I joined straight from the prison service at 31 years old. That helped enormously at the interview. A disciplined environment, dealing properly with difficult people and used to wearing a uniform. Some folk struggle with that, especially some youngsters. My advice is do it. I've got 19 years and have been lucky enough to work in various departments. One good thing about the police is the opportunity to do different things. It led me to work here in the Caribbean as a cop now. There is absolutely no ageist nonsense in the police. The worst thing thrown at you will be that you'll get called 'faither' by the other folk on your team.

 

At the moment, there is a big recruitment drive on. Your life experience is a massive factor. Get your trainers on, shed the timber you need and get a form in. You'll maybe know some cops as mates. Grill them for info. If not, then PM me whenever you need help. I've got a couple of mates currently at the college as instructors in probationer training.

 

It's all I ever wanted to do in life but circumstances meant I couldn't join until 31. The job has changed and will always change but it's still a cracking profession. Whenever anyone asks me why I still love it, I tell them that it's the variety. Just think how many cop related shows and dramas are on the tele. Every second new series on tv is about cops! It's because it's interesting!

 

Go for it!

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Thanks for the positive replies.. 

 

One of the things that put me off when I was younger was that I had a couple of experiences with a couple of officers who, shall we say, didn't do the uniform justice... A mate of a mate actually stopped me getting lifted by his Oppo in Linlithgow the week after they had introduced no drinking in the street (which I didn't know about). I was absolutely compliant when confronted by said officer (a person with Napoleon syndrome if ever there was one!) even throwing my full bottle of beer into a nearby bin and apologising for not knowing the new rule as I was from Livingston.. It all came good when "Charles" sent the wee Hitler off to see to some others on the other side of the street.. There were a couple of other incidents that put me off working with certain types of people.. However after a few years in the prison system as an officer I realised that you get power hungry arseholes in every profession but believed I was too old and life had moved on anyway. 

 

Since then I've had a few years as a Private Hire Driver and got a degree and post Grad Diploma but there are simply no jobs in the field. 

 

I think being a Private Hire Driver will help aswell as you have to deal with all manner of entitled under the influence of several substance arseholes in that job aswell. 

 

As advised I think it's time to shift the timber and go for it. When I was doing the prison I found that the best officers were the older ones (not necessarily having longevity of service) as we/they were calmer, had more patience and were generally easier to get along with as-long as stuff was done. I witnessed several times younger officers on a power trip (much like my experience with the wee Hitler Policeman) and had to sort a situation before it arose as a result. 

 

EH11_2NL I may well be PM'ing you in the not too distant future.. ? As you say the variety of work available is probably second only to the Armed Forces,  I have a friend from school who is an officer on one of the Shetland islands, along with his wife, so will send him a wee message aswell. He started on the beat in Fife and now posts some of the best pictures of beaches on Facebook , all from "his island".. :) 

 

 

 

 

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On 30/03/2019 at 09:00, Mac_fae_Gillie said:

Iffy lad in this modern world you can be jailed for be homophobic and could be his son and a 55yr old arresting you. Do not give them cause for a strop search..

I've read this a few times to make sense of it. My post was tongue in cheek and playing on interpretation of words. It certainly wasn't homophobic, which is what you seem to be insinuating. 

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I joined at 38 and was the oldest on my course. I think it balances out a lack of computer skills/fitness with the fact that you know how to talk to people and diffuse things.

Word of caution. Pension is good but it's one of the most expensive in the UK. You pay more pension than tax. I actually took a pay cut from the Post Office to join.

Having said that I've never regretted it. 17 years in and can see retirement now. Go for it. You've got nowt to lose.

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Interested in this as well... I was just starting the application a few years ago when I did my ACL which obviously put an end to that.

 

30 now and considering applying so any tips and advice on the application process would be appreciated. Pretty sure I'm smart/fit enough to get in based on the practice tests and being able to run for a while etc.

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A few years ago, I mind stumbling on forum for Special Constables which had a lot of tips for joining the police. Dunno if it's still going. 

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I'd recommend visiting a station if you know a copper who can show you around, introduce you to a probationer etc. They'll give you a full run down on the process. I don't think age should be a barrier. A lot of middle aged folk are fitter than a lot of the youngsters because of their lifestyle, (gaming, eating keek etc). I found the college quite challenging cos I left school at 15 and hadn't really done formal education since 1979 but if you get your head down you can do it. Fitness isn't as hard as it was, or so I'm told. No bleep test or really long runs anymore.

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AlphonseCapone

Used to fancy joining because I'm quite nosey. Figured that wasn't sufficient motivation so didn't bother. 

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23 hours ago, Jamhammer said:

I'd recommend visiting a station if you know a copper who can show you around, introduce you to a probationer etc. They'll give you a full run down on the process. I don't think age should be a barrier. A lot of middle aged folk are fitter than a lot of the youngsters because of their lifestyle, (gaming, eating keek etc). I found the college quite challenging cos I left school at 15 and hadn't really done formal education since 1979 but if you get your head down you can do it. Fitness isn't as hard as it was, or so I'm told. No bleep test or really long runs anymore.

 

There’s still a bleep test but the level has been made so low that it’s pretty much impossible to fail :lol:. There are no age or sex based gradients so the level now across the board is what used to be expected of a female over 50.

 

Also you still have to do a couple of mile and a half runs but they don’t go on your record.

 

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4 minutes ago, moogsy said:

 

There’s still a bleep test but the level has been made so low that it’s pretty much impossible to fail :lol:. There are no age or sex based gradients so the level now across the board is what used to be expected of a female over 50.

 

Also you still have to do a couple of mile and a half runs but they don’t go on your record.

 

I don’t consider a mile and a half a long run.

Is the forest still a no-no?

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On 30/03/2019 at 08:00, Carl Weathers said:

Fair play to anyone doing that job. Arresting proper nutjobs wouldn't be my cup of tea! 

Plenty nutjobs are police.

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Best of luck to you OP. Sadly, in this pc nanny state we live in, the people joining this great profession are dwindling.

 

I don't blame them though. Repect is rare, politicians like Corbyn and Abbott will favour the criminal and you will be thrown on the streets to tackle thugs, guns and knives with effectively a can of hairspray.

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21 hours ago, Jamhammer said:

I don’t consider a mile and a half a long run.

Is the forest still a no-no?

 

Aye strictly out of bounds :lol:

 

12 hours ago, i8hibsh said:

Best of luck to you OP. Sadly, in this pc nanny state we live in, the people joining this great profession are dwindling.

 

I don't blame them though. Repect is rare, politicians like Corbyn and Abbott will favour the criminal and you will be thrown on the streets to tackle thugs, guns and knives with effectively a can of hairspray.

 

Can of hairspray? You’ve clearly never come into contact with Pava.

 

Can’t speak for the rest of the UK but there is absolutely no appetite from rank and file cops in Scotland to be armed with anything more than the current equipment. It’s adequate. 

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1 minute ago, moogsy said:

 

Aye strictly out of bounds :lol:

 

 

Can of hairspray? You’ve clearly never come into contact with Pava.

 

Can’t speak for the rest of the UK but there is absolutely no appetite from rank and file cops in Scotland to be armed with anything more than the current equipment. It’s adequate. 

I'd have taken a taser TBF but no appetite for a gun

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When in the Edinburgh Polis I would have been glad of a set of handcuffs and a radio. Had a gun later in another area, you get used to it, but there is always the consideration for me anyway will it be justified and will it be in time. Never really felt good about having one.

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The Treasurer

Neighbour of mine joined at the age of 45 after being knocked back twice in the past on fitness grounds.

It was always his dream to be a cop and for the first few years it lived up to that dream.

However once it became Police Scotland he quickly became disillusioned and took early retirement

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