Police Training in England and Wales

Every police officer must know something about various professions and skills, with a job like his. He is everything: lawyer, social worker, diplomat, traffic engineer.

Above all a police officer must be kind, understanding, discreet and

decisive. Normally one can join the police force between the ages of 18,5 and 30, after having left school. This is the normal way to join the police force. Lower- grade

applicants and with a minimum age of 16 can join a police cadet corps, which prepares its members for police work and also offers them the opportunity to take high- grade level.

Towards the end of the training period, cadets are attached to a police station to get some first- hand knowledge of police work.

They become police recruits at the age of 18,5. All trainees start with 15 weeks of initial training at a districts training center. Then they take part in 2 weeks' tuition in local procedures before their first posting to an operational division.

For the next 2 years officers serves as constable on probation and continue their training. At the end of the second year, they take their final exam. Only after this, they are confirmed in the rank of constable. Passing the final exam as a police constable doesn't mean that training has finished. On the contrary, training continues with opportunities for promotion to sergeant or specialization in particular aspects of police work. The police force training colleges offer refresher courses for officers, who have been selected, for promotion in order to prepare them for new responsibilities.

There are different kinds of courses: the special course for a limited number of constables of outstanding ability, which prepare inspectors: the Junior Command Course to prepare inspectors and chief inspectors, the Senior command Course to prepare officers of superintendent rank for the highest echelons of the police service.