Applications for this job are now closed
Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step and you’re now one step closer to the best career decision you’ll ever make.
Policing is a challenging but highly rewarding role. Police officers within Northamptonshire Police protect people from harm and help make the county a safer place to live for family, friends, and the wider community.
You are on your way to earning a highly competitive salary, starting at £26,682 and rising to £43,032, it’s a job where no two days are the same and is both challenging and rewarding.
What’s involved in becoming a detective?
As a detective, you will be involved in serious and complex investigations. The investigations will be varied, ranging from serious assaults, domestic abuse, and fraud, to burglary, robbery, and knife crime.
Your role will involve identifying and analysing evidence, talking to witnesses, and interviewing offenders.
You will start a two-year probationary period, where we will equip you with the detective training alongside academic and physical training. For the first 32 weeks, we will teach you the knowledge and skills required of all police officers – like officer safety training, understanding key powers and procedures, making arrests – these are all vital skills regardless of which specialism you go into.
Within nine months we aim to have you posted to CID. In this investigative environment you will put your learning into practice. Over the remainder of your two-year period, you will work towards your Accredited Detective Status.
You will be required to complete and pass the National Investigators Exam and Detective Training Course. At the end of two years, once your pass, you will be successfully confirmed into the rank of detective constable and gain a Level 6 Diploma in Policing.
There is a lot of information about the detective pathway on our website www.northants.police.uk/detectives as well details on eligibility criteria and the recruitment process. Please make sure you read these details before applying.
Eligibility
We are looking for people from all background who share our vision and values to join us.
Academic requirements
Applicants for Detective constable must hold have a minimum 2:2 of a UK bachelor’s degree qualification* (Level 6) or equivalent. Qualification certificate to be attached to your application form.
Age
You must be 17 or over to be eligible to apply but you must be 18 before a final offer of appointment can be made. There is no upper age limit for the appointment, however, please bear in mind that the normal retirement age for an officer is 60 years of age, but can take their pension from Age 55
Driving Licence
Applicants are required to hold a full UK manual driving licence at the point a final offer of appointment is made.
Nationality
If you from outside the UK, it's essential that you have leave to enter or to remain in the UK for an indefinite period
Residency
A minimum residency criterion of three years within the UK, applies before candidates can be considered for the Police.
Criminal conviction/caution
Ideally, you should not have a criminal conviction or cautions record. If you do have one, your application may be rejected, although we may consider your age at the time and nature of the offence.
Membership of groups or organisations
We will not accept applications from anyone who is, or has been, a member of the British National Party, Combat 18, National Front or similar organization.
Recruitment process
- Application
- National sift
- Assessment Centre
- Interview
- Pre-employment Checks including Vetting, Fitness, Medical, Eyesight, Drugs, Biometric, References
- Uniform Fitting
National sift will commence week 30/01/2023
Online assessment will commence week 13/03/2023
Interview will commence week 01/05/2023
PROPOSED START DATE - September 2023
We know that this is a life changing role, and we want to help you through the recruitment process as much as possible. We have a range of support services available to help you, which we encourage you to take advantage of.
We run workshops that help you through assessment centre and interview preparation. Find out how you can attend these free sessions by contacting us for details or email us any questions or queries on Recruitment@northants.pnn.police.uk or call on 03000111222 Ext 342401.
As a service we are committed to working towards a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we proudly serve. To this end we have a dedicated Positive Action Team that ensure we recruit from the widest possible talent including those from ethnic minority communities, women, and the LGBTQ+ community. To find out more please visitwww.PositiveActionPolice.co.uk
Here are some important facts about joining the Police Service
The police are available to help, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round. As a police officer you are expected to be flexible and there may be occasions where while dealing with an incident that you will not be able to leave immediately at the end of your shift.
During your probation period, you will be expected to work three weekends on and two weekends off. Your shifts will vary days, evenings, nights, and weekend shifts. However, we understand that you will have family and social commitments and we make every effort to be flexible, let you have your shift patterns in advance and try to manage work life balance.
While we do have some officers that work part-time, you won’t be able to do this immediately. In due course, you may wish to discuss flexible working with your line manager.
The role of an officer is varied and challenging, and you will be exposed to situation that you will not encountered before, including attending serious injury road collision, violent situations and even death. however, you will be provided with training and support and the skills to deal with these scenarios.
The role requires you to be resilient, with effective communication and problem-solving skills and be able to work under pressure. You will be learning all the time and the reward you get from helping people in need is a key the reason why police officers have joined.
Every police force has a rank structure where it’s important to be able to follow instruction. As an officer, you have significant powers in serving and protecting the public which comes with responsibility and accountability. We expect everyone, regardless of rank or role, to commit to ethical behaviour and values. If we are to police the public, then everyone needs to deliver to the highest standard.
Failure to upload your qualifications certificate, your application will not be progressed to the next stage in the process.
