 For and About Special Constables! |
For and About Special Constables! |
You can apply to join the Specials through the official recruitment website.
In2Police is an independent company offering a range of advice and training services for those hoping to join the UK police service full-time.
Help with the PIR test, preparing for police duty, and other helpful reading!
People in certain jobs can't be Specials due to a possible conflict of interest.
The full eyesight standards are published in Home Office Circular 25/2003.
The BBC Health website has a BMI calculator so you can check yours.
Get a CD with the beep test tones so you can practice ahead of the big day!
Help and advice on how to pass the police fitness test.
If you're thinking about joining the Specials it can all seem a bit daunting, there's lots of questions you may have about what it's like being a Special, and how to go about applying. This page collects together hopefully all of the information you need in one place, and gives you some pointers on where else you might find the answers you need.
There are links on the left hand side which will take you to other areas of the site, as well as external sites, with useful information.
I'm often asked what is the recruitment process for the Specials. Well it's pretty similar to the process for joining the police full time, although Special Constabularies tend to operate separate recruitment processes to the regulars.
Note that each force does Specials recruitment in its own way, so your experience may be slightly different. But these are the key elements of the process, in roughly chronological order. There's a lot of information here, but that's deliberate - I have tried to bring together answers to all the common questions.
If after working your way through this lot, you still need more information, or have questions that aren't answered here, check out our forum.
Before you even take that first step of getting an application form, take some time to consider whether being a Special is right for you. You might like to consider if:
If you want to talk to serving regulars or Specials, drop into your local police station, tell them you're thinking of joining up and ask to speak to an officer - I know this sounds a bit daunting, but I am sure they will be pleased to assist.
Alternatively, visit our forum where there are lots of serving Specials who can answer your questions and concerns - see sidebar for link.
There are a number of books available for prospective Specials which you might find useful when considering a police career and/or applying - see sidebar for a link.
Note that you can only apply to join one police force as a Special at any one time. If you apply to more than one, it is likely that all your applications will be rejected.
If you have applied before to join, and been unsuccessful, then you must wait at least six months from the rejection before applying again.
To be eligible for consideration to join the Specials, you must:
In addition, do you:
You may be worried if you have had dealings with the police in the past, or if you have a criminal record (i.e. you've been convicted of an offence in a court, or cautioned by the police). Not all offences will bar you from becoming a Special, but it's vital to disclose all previous convictions, including motoring offences on your application.
Applications from people with convictions or cautions for very minor offences, such as speeding, may be considered. If you have been convicted for drink-driving, or if you have been disqualified from driving as a result of any other conviction, most forces will not accept your application until at least 5 years after the date of conviction.
Although minor offences may not affect your application, certain cautions and criminal convictions will almost certainly mean a rejection of any application to join the Special Constabulary, including anyone who has received a formal caution in the last five years, committed a violent crime or public order offence.
If you're unsure about anything where you've come to police attention, my advice is to disclose it anyway. You should certainly declare any incident where you were arrested, even if the end result was a release with No Further Action ("NFA"). The police conduct fairly extensive background checks and it will probably come to light. If this happens, at best you'll be put on the defensive explaining why you omitted to mention it, or more likely the force will just reject your application without further consideration.
Applicants should not have tattoos which could cause offence - tattoos are also likely to be unacceptable if they are particularly prominent, garish, offensive or undermine the dignity and authority of the role of a police officer.
Applicants' financial status is checked as part of the application process. This is because police officers often have access to private or privileged information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption.
Applicants who have been declared bankrupt, or who have oustanding CCJs (County Court Judgements) will be rejected. Discharged bankrupts can apply but must provide a Certificate of Satisfaction.
The current Home Office eyesight standards for applicants to the police force were published on 1st April 2003 in Home Office Circular HOC 25/2003 (see sidebar for link), and are as follows:
Applicants who have had laser eye surgery should allow at least 6 weeks after surgery before applying or they may be rejected. Certain forms of eye surgery that result in a significant weaking of the cornea are likely to mean the applicant will be rejected.
Forces are not required to test eyesight until near the end of the assessment process, and the Home Office has advised that in principle, forces should meet the cost of eyesight testing. I am not sure that many do, in these straitened times!
Most forces like you to apply online these days (see link in sidebar). However you can also contact your local force, speak to their recruitment department (usually at headquarters) and ask them to post an application form out to you.
When the application forms arrive, read everything carefully before you start filling anything out. If you've got a paper form through the post, then in the pack you'll find a detailed application form - in my experience this is the same one as for the regulars.
If you're filling out a paper form, then follow the instructions, for example if it asks you to complete the form in black ink, use black ink! Write using your usual handwriting - don't fill everything out in CAPITALS! And be sure to watch out for spelling mistakes and keep it neat - avoid lots of crossing out! It's worth photocopying the forms and filling out the copy as a practice to get it right before you fill it in for real.
The pack will also include a questionnaire about your medical history, and almost certainly a waiver form allowing them to check up on any details with your doctor.
You need to complete this honestly and in full. It's no good lying about a condition which might cause you problems when you're on duty as a police officer.
Your weight and height must be in proportion - you must also not be overly underweight or overweight. To assess this, your Body Mass Index (BMI) will be measured. Home Office guidelines suggest state an applicant with a BMI between 18 and 30 should be considered acceptable. If your BMI is above 30 then you would be advised to lose weight to reach a BMI of 29 or 30, likewise if your BMI was below 18 then you would be advised to gain weight.
The sidebar includes a link to a BBC website where you can check your BMI.
Some forces ask you to submit to a medical check (i.e. an examination by a doctor) - including a hearing test, check on blood pressure, breathing analysis, urine test - before you can be accepted, although this seems to be quite rare for entry into the Specials.
Once you've applied, sit back and wait... some forces are taking weeks or even months to fully process applications. Try to be patient, they have a lot of applications and limited resources to deal with them all. You ought to receive a letter acknowledging receipt of your application within a week or so - if not then there's no harm in phoning your chosen force's recruitment department to check you are at least in the system.
To be a Special you need to be a person of "good character". This means you must not be a criminal, nor must you associate with criminals.
The force will carry out checks into your background so if you were foolish enough not to declare previous convictions, this is where they'll come to light. They will also check into the backgrounds of your immediate family. These checks are very time consuming, so be patient! This is often called the "paper sift" stage, because the force is sifting through your application.
Once these checks are successfully completed, you may be contacted by a serving Special from the recruitment team to set up a home visit.
The home visit rarely takes place these days, but some forces still use them as an opportunity for you or your family to meet one or two serving Specials and ask any questions or raise any concerns you may have.
Candidates are judged on the next stages (assessment, PIR, etc.) and on their own merits, not on what's discussed at a home visit, although if during the visit a candidate shows obvious warning signs, like using racist language, then their application is likely to fail!
Most forces run some sort of assessment event and this is the key event in the process. These typically last a half day or sometimes a whole day, and often take place at police HQ. You will be invited well in advance and given some basic information on what to bring, and what to prepare.
Assessments vary but usually they are broken into a set of exercises. During these sessions you will be evaluated on your confidence, interpersonal skills, how you work in a team, your demonstration of leadership and your overall initiative.
The exercises may include a presentation or talk to the rest of the candidates, a scenario which you need to discuss as a team, role plays, and a logic exercise to try and solve, again usually as a team.
This whole process sounds a bit daunting, but don't be put off, the assessment is not designed to catch you out, but to ensure you have the "right stuff" to be a police officer. Obviously you're not expected to know any law or procedure at this stage but the assessors do want to see if you have strength of character and moral fibre.
Some of the characteristics assessors are looking for in a police officer include confidence, listening skills, common sense, empathy, leadership, an ability to express yourself and relate to people, initiative, maybe even a degree of moral and/or physical courage.
There's a link in the sidebar where you can get more help with the assessment centre.
During the assessment day you will most likely be required to complete a written test. Increasingly, forces are using the Police Initial Recruitment Test (also just called the "PIR"). This is used to establish if you are able to write clearly and accurately - since there is plenty of paperwork involved in police work too - but also to test reasoning and logic skills.
The main areas tested in the PIR are:
The PIR is designed to assess the potential of an applicant's mental skills. You're advised to brush up on your basic mental arithmetic, i.e. without using a calculator, or working it out on paper!
There were changes to the PIR in late 2002, in particular the removal of the observation test. Previously with this element included, the pass mark was 230 out of 360; now the pass mark is 168 points out of a maximum possible total of 298.
See the sidebar for links to a practice PIR book with questions and answers.
The final hurdle is the fitness test! This is one of the stages that causes the most concern for many potential recruits, but it's not as bad as you may fear.
The national fitness test has now been introduced in just about every force which requires fitness tests for Specials (they all require fitness tests for regulars). More and more forces are introducing fitness tests for Specials and in many cases they are the same as for the regulars. It means it's tougher to get in, but Specials these days perform front-line policing duties most of the time, so this make sense.
The three elements of this test are:
Performance on each of these provides a good indicator of your capability of performing various police tasks. The test elements are run consecutively and minimum standards need to be achieved on each.
If you fail to reach the minimum standard in one component of the test, you fail the whole test. If you don’t pass the test at your first attempt you can re-take it. However, if you fail the test after three attempts your application will be halted and you will have to wait for at least six months before re-applying.
Although the test is not particularly hard, it does require a certain level of fitness and if you are unfit, out of condition, or overweight, then you may fail this test. Knowing that the fitness test forms part of the recruitment process, you should start your preparation as soon as possible! My advice would be to go to your gym or sports centre, explain what you need to do to pass, and get them to help you with a training programme.
Always start off gently and build up slowly. If you have any medical condition, haven't exercised for a while, are over 40, have been ill or have any joint problems you should always contact your GP or physician before starting any physical programme.
You can find more help and advice on getting fit for the test on our forum (see sidebar).
In theory, if you've passed the paper sift, successfully completed the PIR, shone at the assessment and sailed through the fitness test, you're in! Congratulations!
You will be contacted by the force who will provide you with details of your first posting (which police station you're going to be based at), when and where the training programme starts, where to report for your uniform fitting and how to get your warrant card.
Now the fun really starts!