Gloucestershire Constabulary · hosted performances from Little Mix, Lionel Richie, Tom Jones and Elton John. ... Thank you and the very best of luck with your application! Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire ConstabularyServe your community. Become a police officer.Recruitment September 2018

www.gloucestershire.police.uk

Serve your community. Become a police officer.

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Contents

01. Chief Constable’s foreword 3

02. Introduction 5

03. About Gloucestershire 6

04. About Gloucestershire Constabulary 7

05. Our structure 8

06. Our intent, values and principles 9

07. Policing in Gloucestershire in numbers 2018 10

08. Becoming a Police Constable with Gloucestershire Constabulary 12

09. Recruitment process 13

10. Eligibility criteria 18

11. Residency criteria 19

12. Criminal convictions 20

13. Financial status 21

14. Eyesight 22

15. Frequently asked questions 24



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01. Chief Constable’s foreword

Policing is a wonderful career and we make a difference to peoples lives each and every day. It is a demanding but rewarding job, with no two days likely to be the same.

An increasingly diverse society relies on us to keep them safe, so we need a diverse workforce to reflect our communities in order to gain a much better understanding of the different needs and services we provide. We are a routinely unarmed service and often find ourselves going towards trouble when others are going away from it. Not all of our encounters however involve conflict. In fact a significant part of our job involves support, reassurance and advice. From the serious to the minor, nothing is trivial in policing. We require the very best individuals from society to join us and help to make us a representative and diverse pool of committed individuals determined to uphold the law and act with compassion and the highest degree of integrity.

Fairness, Openness, Leadership, Respect, Honesty, Integrity, Objectivity, Selflessness and Accountability are the positive behaviours we will be looking for in prospective candidates. These cannot be taught by us, I encourage you to read the College of Policing’s Code of Ethics before you apply. What we can teach you are the skills you will need to be a highly professional police officer, confident to do your job.

Rod Hansen

Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary

As well as your own personal qualities, it is important that you can build effective relationships to operate in a team. I want my staff to be confident to work independently but understand they will be at their most successful when working together. In return you will build a strong bond with your colleagues and enjoy friendship, camaraderie and support throughout your career.

Once you have read this brochure guide, and if you think that you can live up to these important behaviours then please consider favourably a career with Gloucestershire Constabulary. We look forward to receiving your application.



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This guide aims to provide you with an understanding of the recruitment process to become a new Police Officer with Gloucestershire Constabulary and about working for our Force.

There are different stages of the recruitment process and therefore it is important that you understand what is required, how long you will have to complete each stage and also when you will be informed if you can progress to the next stage.

The first part of our recruitment process is an online eligibility assessment. Access to this will be available on our website from 9 am on Monday 3 September 2018 until 4 pm on Friday 14 September 2018 from any location that has internet access.

Our recruitment guide will remain available to view on the recruitment page of our website:

www.gloucestershire.police.uk/jobs

If you cannot find the answers to your questions within this document, then please e-mail the Resourcing Team who will respond to your query as quickly as possible.

Our email address is:

[email protected]

If you have a query, please ensure that you have read this document carefully and in full before contacting us.

Gloucestershire Constabulary is committed to fairness towards all members of the community. We need people from diverse backgrounds and would welcome applications from all-under-represented groups, in particular, females and those from black and ethnic minority communities.

02. Introduction



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03. About Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a largely rural county encompassing the Cathedral city of Gloucester, the historic Spa town of Cheltenham, the Royal Forest of Dean and a number of picturesque Cotswolds villages. Gloucestershire’s urban centres are diverse with a thriving night-time economy.

The County hosts a number of significant events throughout the year which attract national attention. These include the National Hunt Festival (Gold Cup) at Cheltenham Racecourse, the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, the Tall Ships Festival at Gloucester Docks and the annual Cheese Rolling competition at Cooper’s Hill.

Kingsholm Stadium is home to Gloucester RFC, a professional rugby union side who play in the English Premiership and have a loyal fan base of staunch supporters. In the summer months, Kingsholm is often transformed into a concert venue and in recent years has hosted performances from Little Mix, Lionel Richie, Tom Jones and Elton John.

There are a number of royal households including Highgrove and Gatcombe Park, two airports and two universities; the University of Gloucestershire and the Royal Agricultural University. GCHQ is one of the UK’s leading intelligence agencies and as such a large employer in the county.



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04. About Gloucestershire Constabulary

Gloucestershire Constabulary headquarters is based at Waterwells, Gloucester, where we also have a custody suite and an investigations hub which supports our neighbourhood teams across the county. Just opposite our headquarters is Prism House which houses our investigators and safeguarding teams. Next door is a Tri-service control room and vehicle workshops that we share with the Fire and Rescue Service. Just around the corner is our training school and Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

We refer to this part of the Constabulary as our Waterwells Campus, the idea being that operational staff from around the county can come here to access many of the essential support services they need to do their job.

The force is headed by Chief Constable Rod Hansen who is supported by Deputy Chief Constable Jon Stratford and Assistant Chief Constable Julian Moss.

Our policing style is clear and based upon a local presence through visible and accessible neighbourhood policing teams, together with teams who respond to emergencies, investigate serious crimes and tackle cybercrime as well as a range of other support units.

We work with our partners, local communities and those who come into contact with us as victims, witnesses, partners, volunteers and staff, so that we are clear on what it is we need to do to deliver our priorities and make improvements to our policing services.



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05. Our structure

1039OFFICERS

649POLICE

STAFF

118PCSOs

179SPECIAL

CONSTABLES

1,806

WorkforceOur current total (full time equivalent)

Operational Policing • Local Policing and Harm Reduction• Criminal Justice (including Custody) • Local Investigations • Incident Management and Resolution • Special Constabulary • Volunteer Cadets• Tri-Force Specialist Operations

Crime Command• Authorising office and Digital

Intelligence• Forensics Services • Intelligence• Investigations and Public Protection• Specialist Investigations • Tri-Force Major Crime Investigations

Enabling Services Departments • Communications & Engagement • Estates and Support Services (includes

facilities management and uniform stores) • Finance & Procurement (vehicle fleet/

transport management) • Governance and Compliance (includes

liaison with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services)

• Human Resources (includes Learning and Development)

• ICT, Change and Transformation (includes Continuous Improvement team)

• Legal Services• Professional Standards Department.

Gloucestershire Constabulary is structured under the following areas and departments:-



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06. Our intent, values and principles

Our Intent:A Constabulary that inspires trust, confidence and pride because we:

• serve the public and place them at the heart of everything we do

• make decisions based on our values, principles and doing the right thing

• have capable, motivated and professional people working for us

• are financially sound, sustainable and resilient, with the right technology, estate and equipment.

Our Values and Principles: In doing this, we will:

• act with honesty, integrity and humanity

• listen, learn and improve

• be responsive

• take responsibility for what we do and how we do it

• thrive through changes, challenges, collaborations and opportunities

• be creative, innovative and adaptable

• work together and achieve as one team

• promote and value leadership at all levels.

Our Corporate Strategy:



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of victims were satisfied with the service they received83.6%70.5%

of the public rated Gloucestershire Constabulary as doing an “excellent” or “good” job

FRONT LINE WORKFORCE

77%

GLOS. NATIONAL

(-14% since 2010)

78%

COST PER PERSON (per day)

0.48p 0.49pGLOS. NATIONAL

8,511 VIOLENT CRIME1,076 SEXUAL OFFENCES330 ROBBERY4,021 BURGLARY8,616 THEFT4,475 CRIMINAL DAMAGE & ARSON1,050 DRUG OFFENCES2,672 OTHER CRIMES4,234 VEHICLE CRIMES

Crime Data FORCE AREA 1,024 SQUARE MILES

999 CALLS: 77,493

101 CALLS: 219,759

ARRESTS: 7,177

DAILY AVERAGE: 20

POPULATION OF

0 . 6 1 M+7% (over 10 years)

RESPONSE TIMES

CRIME DATA

GRADE 1 11 mins

GRADE 2.1 1hr, 2m

GRADE 2 53m

TOTAL CRIMES

34,985

07. Policing in Gloucestershire in numbers 2018

154,6

22 - T

OTAL I

NCIDENTS

9,275

- DOMESTIC

ABUSE INCIDENTS

23,11

9 - ASB IN

CIDENTS



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08. Becoming a Police Constable with Gloucestershire Constabulary

What we offer: • The opportunity of a rewarding, varied and challenging

career where you put service to the public at the heart of everything you do in accordance with your oath of office.

• A starting salary of at least £20,370 to £23,586 per annum (depending on your skills and experience)

• Annual leave of 22 paid annual holidays plus public holidays, which increases to 30 days depending on length of service

• A police pension

• Training and development opportunities throughout your career

• Support and advice from a dedicated occupational health service; a range of staff associations that bring together officers of a similar faith, gender, orientation and race; access to a range of services including Police Mutual, Simply Health, TriCare (Police Federation Health Scheme), Police Credit Union, and the Police Benevolent Fund

• Employee assistance programme that provides additional support for any health, wellbeing and lifestyle issues for you and your immediate family.

• Childcare vouchers which can be used to pay for registered or approved childcare including nurseries, childminders, breakfast and after school clubs and can be used for children up to the age of 16

• Access to a subsidised gym depending upon location.

What we’re looking for: Gloucestershire police officers are resourceful, confident and motivated.

They provide an exceptional service to our local communities and have the integrity and values to hold a position of trust and responsibility.

They care about making a difference, and want to help and get involved with people, understanding their needs.

Our Police Officers are professional and friendly and work hard to build strong relationships with their colleagues and communities. They take pride in what they do and of the policing service they provide to the people of Gloucestershire.



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On completion of each stage of the recruitment process you will be notified whether or not you have been successful and therefore able to proceed to the next stage.

Please note it is not possible to provide specific feedback at each stage of the recruitment process.

Opening date and time 3 September 9am

Closing date and time for applications to be returned to

Resourcing Team, Police Headquarters No1 Waterwells Drive, Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, GL2 2AN

14 September 4pm

Assessment Centre October 2018

Interviews Commencing November 2018

Pre-employment checks Commencing November 2018

First intake start date March 2019

You must be available to complete the above stages during the dates shown. If you are not available for any stage of the process for any reason (for example pre-arranged holidays), we may not be able to progress your application further as alternative dates are unlikely to be available.

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2

3

4

5

Eligibility screen

Offer of Employment

Complete Application Form (including Competency Based Questionnaire)

Attend Police SEARCH Recruitment Assessment Centre at Thames Valley Police

Attend Interview and Medical at Police HQ, Quedgeley, Gloucester

Pre-employment Checks (including Fitness, Medical, Biometrics, Vetting and Referencing)

09. Recruitment process



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The start of the recruitment process will be to complete the online eligibility screen. It is important that you are open and honest with your responses so that you gain the most benefit from the questions.

I. Eligibility screen This screen checks your eligibility in line with the national recruitment standards. You will be advised at the end of the questionnaire if you have met all the eligibility criteria and then able to progress to the application form. The eligibility criteria are set out later in this guide.

II. Application FormIf you are successful through the online eligibility screen, you will be able to access a link to the application form.

Your application form must be handwritten or typed, printed out and submitted either by post or in person to the Resourcing Team, Police Headquarters No1 Waterwells Drive, Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, GL2 2AN by the deadline of 4pm on Friday 14th September 2018. Reception is open Monday through to Friday between 8am and 5pm.

Please do not staple your application form together as we will need to separate out the information at certain stages of the process.

To complete the application form, you will be asked to provide personal information, education and full work history. Please ensure there are NO gaps in the

information you provide. It is very important that you follow the instructions as incomplete forms will not be accepted.

III. Assessment CentreThe Assessment Centre will be run at The College of Policing which is located at Thames Valley Police. You will be required to attend the centre for one day. Our Assessment Centres will be held in October 2018.

It is very important when deciding to apply for the role of a Gloucestershire police officer that you can attend one of the Assessment Centres in October 2018 as no further dates will be available.

The Assessment Centre consists of:

20 minute competency based interview

Two written exercises

Four role play exercises

Numerical reasoning questionnaire and a verbal logical reasoning test.

These exercises are designed to test your ability to think on your feet, make quick decisions based on sound judgement and also to measure your basic numeracy and literacy standards.

You will be required to bring two forms of identification with you to the assessment centre (including one photo ID). If you do not bring these with you, you will not be permitted to progress any further with the application process.

You should receive your results approximately two to three weeks after the Assessment Centre closes. If you are successful at this stage, you will then be invited to



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attend an interview at Police Headquarters in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire.

IV. Interview & Medical AssessmentWe use the interview to get to know more about you and how well suited you are to the role of an officer with Gloucestershire Constabulary.

The interview is behavioural style interview where the questions will be looking for specific evidence of past behaviour (things that you have done at a certain time). The interview is based on competency and values framework (CVF) and you will be assessed against level 1 - practitioner in each case.

A medical assessment will generally be carried out by our Occupational Health Unit.

We will check:-

• BMI (between 18-30)

• Eye sight (full details later in this guide)

• Colour vision (full details later in this guide)

• Lung function

• Hearing

You will be asked to complete a confidential medical history questionnaire. Depending upon your medical history, we may need to contact your GP or other specialist for further information.

V. Fitness Test and Biometric VettingThe role of a police officer is demanding. During the application and selection process we will be assessing your mental and physical fitness to undertake the role.

Fitness testWe test endurance through a fitness shuttle run commonly known as the ‘bleep test’. A good indicator of the fitness level needed for this test is to be able to run at a good pace for around four minutes over a distance of about 700 metres.

Bleep test (shuttle run) explainedRequired level is 5.4 = 5 levels and 4 shuttles over a 15 metre course

Total Time Distance Covered Shuttles Completed3 min 35 seconds 525 metres 35

Levels Shuttles per level Seconds per shuttle1 7 72 8 73 8 64 8 65 4 6



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VI. Vetting checksWe will carry out security checks on you and your:

• Spouse/partner

• Father

• Step father/mother’s partner

• Mother

• Stepmother/father’s partner

• Brothers/sisters (full/half/step)

• Children/children of your partner (only those age 10 years and over)

• Any other adult living at your address

Financial circumstances – applicants will have their financial status checked. These checks are carried out because police officers and police staff have access to privileged information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption. Applicants with outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJs), Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVAs) or who have been registered bankrupt with outstanding debts, will be rejected. If you have discharged bankruptcy debts then you will need to provide a certificate of satisfaction with your application. At least three years will need to have passed since the date of discharge.

Ideally you should not have a criminal record, but some minor offences may not exclude you. (full details later in this guide)

VII. ReferencesWe will send reference requests to your current and previous employers in the last 5 years. If you haven’t been employed for 5 years, we will ask for a character reference or an educational reference.



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10. Eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply at the time of application you must:

• Be aged 18 years or over on the 3rd September 2018.

• Have not been convicted of a serious arrestable offence or had any cautions including reprimands and final warnings within the last 5 years (full details later in this guide).

• Not be declared bankrupt. If you have been declared bankrupt in the past your application will only be considered if you are a discharged bankrupt and this has been cleared for a period of longer than 3 years. Applicants with outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJ’s), Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVA’s) will be rejected.

• Not be a member of Britain First, the British National Party (BNP), the National Front or Combat 18 or similar association.

• Have at least 2 GCSE’s Grade C or above (or equivalent) in Maths and English or have achieved Independent Patrol Status as a PCSO or Special Constable. It will be your responsibility to provide evidence of your qualifications from the awarding body.

• Be a UK Resident or been employed in the Armed Services and living outside the UK as a result of a military deployment. (full details later in this guide).

• Not have previously undertaken a Police SEARCH Assessment Centre in the last six months. You will not be permitted to attend a further assessment centre until six months has elapsed.

• Have no visible tattoos that could be deemed offensive, inappropriate or unsuitable. You must include at least two photographs of any tattoo with your application form, if they are located on your hands, neck, forearms or face. The first photograph must be a close-up of the tattoo. The second photograph must clearly show the location of the tattoo on your body.

Countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) from which applicants may apply

You can still apply to become a police officer as long as you are an EEA National or a Swiss national.

Commonwealth citizens and foreign nationals are required to have leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK for an indefinite period.

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom



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11. Residency criteria

• The need for the residency rule arises from the requirement to vet all applicants in an equitable manner. This is because the UK police service does not currently have any means of facilitating vetting enquiries overseas to the extent required for those who are resident in the UK.

• The purpose of the residency criteria is to ensure that applicants have a checkable history in the UK, so that meaningful vetting enquiries can be undertaken. The criteria provide reassurance when considering the health and safety of police personnel and the public. Effective vetting cannot be conducted if there is no way to assess the honesty, integrity, reliability and overall suitability for clearance of appointees against the information available.

• The residency requirements refer to the period immediately before an application is made, and not any other three, five, or ten-year period, or any other accumulation of time spent in the UK.

Application of the residency criteria • If an individual resides permanently in the UK, they are

considered to be a UK resident.

• An individual who has moved overseas and severed major ties to the UK (e.g., closed bank accounts and sold property) is considered to have surrendered their residency in the UK. This would also apply to people who maintain bank accounts purely for the purpose of receiving regular payments, e.g., a UK pension.

An individual is considered to be on an extended holiday if they have:

• spent a significant period of time overseas without returning to the UK, but intend to return in the future

• taken a gap year before or following university

• travelled for a year

• spent time overseas visiting family.

• This is not an exhaustive list.

• Individuals who meet the above criteria maintain their UK residency and may therefore be considered for vetting clearance.

Serving with the HMG or Armed Forces • An individual who has been posted overseas as

part of their service with HMG or the armed forces is considered to have been resident in the UK for the period that they were abroad.

• Where an individual has been overseas as the spouse, partner or dependent of a member of the armed forces posted overseas, they can be considered to have been resident in the UK if their place of residence was within the confines of the establishment, e.g., a military base. If they were residing outside this, they are considered to have been resident overseas.



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12. Criminal convictions

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 provides that the Act shall not apply to the police service. Police forces are therefore entitled to ask prospective applicants to reveal spent convictions during the recruitment or vetting process. This does not apply to spent convictions of applicants’ families.

We will make thorough background checks.All applicants will have to complete detailed vetting forms to enable these checks to be made.

Our enquiries will reveal incidents from long ago, and applicants who fail to disclose relevant known matters will have their application declined.

We will not recruit people with cautions or convictions which may call into question the integrity of the applicant or the Police Service.

Criminal Convictions GuidancePublic confidence may be affected if an officer has a previous conviction, caution or other recordable sanction (including reprimands, formal warnings, final warnings, fixed penalty notices and restorative justice sanctions).

The College of Policing Vetting Code of Practice and associated Authorised Professional Practice (APP) advises that applications for a position as a police officer are to be rejected in all cases where:

offences were committed as an adult or juvenile which resulted in a prison sentence (including custodial, suspended or deferred sentence and sentences served at a young offenders’ institution or community home); or

the applicant is a registered sex offender or is subject to a registration requirement in respect of any other conviction.

For all other convictions or cautions there is a rebuttable presumption that they should be rejected. In particular, the following should result in rejection:

offences where vulnerable people were targeted

offences motivated by hate or discrimination

offences of domestic abuse

Forces are advised to take particular care where an individual has been convicted of (or cautioned for) offences of dishonesty, corrupt practice or violence.

Each case will be considered on it’s merits and, whilst the rebuttable presumption is that convictions, cautions or other sanctions should lead to rejection, there may be cases where this may be disproportionate in the circumstances.



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13. Financial status

Financial checks are used to assess whether applicants have been, are currently, or are likely to be in financial difficulty, or show signs of financial irresponsibility to the extent that they could become vulnerable to financial inducement.

Paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Police regulations 2003 states that a member of a police force shall not wilfully refuse or neglect to discharge any lawful debt.

Applicants who have been registered as bankrupt and have discharged their bankruptcy debts will not be considered until three years after the discharge of the debt. Debt Relief Orders (DROs) are treated in the same way as a bankruptcy.

Former Directors of insolvent limited companies who apply will be treated as if they were bankrupt even though the debts are in the company name.

Applicants with outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJ’s), Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVA’s) will also be rejected.



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14. Eyesight

Eyesight requirementsYou may have seen a chart like the diagram below at your opticians. The actual chart is much larger and is read from a distance of six metres. Each line equates to a standard. The standard you need to meet either with or without spectacles or contact lenses is:

Distance vision6/12 or better with either your right or left eye; 6/6 with both eyes together.

If you wear spectacles or contact lenses you also need to reach 6/36 without your spectacles or lenses.

Near vision6/9 with both eyes together (aided).

Colour visionThe use of colour-correcting lenses is not acceptable. Severe colour vision deficiencies (monochromacy) are not acceptable. Mild anomalous trichromacy is acceptable. Severe anomalous dichromacy or trichromacy is also

ABC

DEFGHIJKLM

NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD

EFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEF

6/606/366/246/186/126/9

6/66/5

acceptable but you will need to be aware of the deficiency and make appropriate adjustments.

Eye surgeryRadial keratotomy, arcuate keratotomy or corneal grafts are not acceptable. Other forms of refractive surgery such as LASIK, LASEK, PRK, ICRS and epiflap are all acceptable provided that six weeks have elapsed since surgery, there are no residual side effects and they other eyesight standards are met.

QualificationsDuring your training you will be required to undertake study towards a Diploma in Policing. Based on this requirement, applicants must be able to demonstrate their ability to perform at the required academic level and therefore a prior level of learning must be evidenced.You must have at least 2 GCSE’s Grade C or above (or equivalent) in maths and English or have achieved Independent Patrol Status as a PCSO of Special Constable and have been assessed by your line manager as fully competent in the role.Some equivalent qualifications are listed below –A LevelAS LevelAdvanced DiplomaNational DiplomaNational CertificateNational AwardLevel 3 DiplomaLevel 3 CertificateLevel 3 Award

Level 3 International certificate in computer studies(ICCS) NCC Education UKLevel 3 NQACity and Guilds, Level 3NEBOSH national general certificate in occupational health and safetyAccess to higher education diploma

For additional clarification in relation to qualifications to international equivalents, please contact your examining body for confirmation.



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15. Frequently asked questions

How do I contact Gloucestershire Constabulary about my application? All you need to know about the recruitment process is contained within this guide. If you still have questions then you can email the Resourcing Team at:

[email protected]

and we will respond to you as quickly as possible.

I will be 18 in October when the Assessment Centres start. Can I still apply to join Gloucestershire Constabulary? To be eligible to apply you must be 18 years or over by Monday 3rd September 2018.

Is there a maximum age for applicants? Yes, the maximum age for applicants is 57.

Do I need a driving licence? You will need to have a full UK manual driving licence to be offered an appointment as a Police Officer with Gloucestershire Constabulary.

I have a medical condition. Does that prevent me from joining Gloucestershire Constabulary? It will depend on the nature of your medical condition. We require all our new officers to undergo a medical assessment with our occupational health unit. You will need to pass this assessment to be eligible to join Gloucestershire Constabulary.

I have tattoos. Will this stop me from becoming a police officer? No, as long as they are not deemed offensive, inappropriate or unsuitable

I am not a British Citizen. Can I still apply to join Gloucestershire Constabulary as a police officer? You can still apply to become a police officer as long as you are an EEA National or a Swiss national. Commonwealth citizens and foreign nationals are required to have leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK for an indefinite period.

I have a motoring offence(s). Can I still apply to become a police officer? At the time of application you must have no more than three endorseable traffic convictions (including fixed penalties) and/or two or more convictions for regulatory offences within the last five years such as failure to renew vehicle tax.

I have a criminal record. Can I still apply to become a police officer? Ideally you should not have a criminal record, but some minor offences may not exclude you. (full details are contained in this guide).



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If I am a serving Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) or Special Constable, can I transfer to become a Police Officer? If you are a serving PCSO or Special Constable there is still a requirement for you to go through the official recruitment process like any other applicant in order to become a police officer.

I would like to become a firearms officer – if I am successful in my application to become a police officer can I join a firearms unit straight away? All newly recruited police officers must successfully complete a two year probationary period, so you could not apply for any specialist posts within Gloucestershire Constabulary until you have completed at least two years’ service.

Can I become a police officer if I wear glasses or contact lenses?As part of the recruitment process you will need to undergo an eye test. New recruits must have at least 6/12 vision in the right or left eye, or at least 6/6 vision in both eyes. If you wear glasses or contact lenses you must have at least 6/36 vision in both eyes without wearing your glasses or contact lenses. Further information is contained within the eligibility criteria of this guide.

Can I become a police officer if I am colour blind?Those with colour blindness are eligible to become police officers, but would be restricted from undertaking certain roles such as traffic officer or firearms officer. If your colour blindness is monochrome, you will be unable to apply.

If I have a disability can I apply to become a police officer?Gloucestershire Constabulary welcomes applications from people with disabilities (as defined by the Equality Act 2010). Under this Act a person is defined as disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term (over 12 months) adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day tasks.

If you consider yourself to have a disability, please inform us of the type of reasonable adjustments you might need to assist you in participating in the recruitment and selection process. Gloucestershire Constabulary will try to make reasonable adjustments required where practicable.

Further information can be found on the College of Policing website via the following link.

http://recruit.college.police.uk/Officer/after-I-apply/Pages/Constables-Assessment-Centre.aspx

I have epilepsy. Can I still apply?You can still apply to become a police officer. We will look at each case individually and take guidance from our occupational health unit about whether you would be able to undertake the role of a police officer.

I have diabetes. Can I still apply?You can still apply as long as your diabetes is controlled. Your doctor will need to supply a medical report for clarification.



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Is there a height restriction for Police Officers?There is no minimum or maximum height restriction.

I have failed the fitness test. Can I still become a Police Officer?For you to progress to the next stage, you must pass the fitness test.

I have not passed the medical assessment. Can I defer my application?We cannot guarantee when we will run another application procedure and therefore you would have to undertake the process again.

I’m from a group that’s under-represented in Gloucestershire Constabulary – how do I know if my application will be treated fairly? We positively encourage applicants from minority groups. The assessment methods we use have been fully impact assessed to ensure the content does not disadvantage any minority group.

Can I apply to more than one force at the same time? You can only have one live application at any one time.

I have already attended a police SEARCH assessment centre, can I apply again?You can apply again if the assessment centre you attended was over six months prior to our assessment centres which are running in October 2018.

Can I transfer my police SEARCH Assessment Centre Score? Yes you can transfer your score to us. You will need to tell us your overall assessment centre score. Please be aware that until we have identified our pool of people we will not consider your score. You may not make the cut of the highest scoring candidates we choose to take forward.

You should be made aware that there are no guarantees that we will offer you an appointment. You cannot have more than one live application, if you transfer your score to us you must withdraw your current application with the other force. Your assessment centre score is valid for 12 months, you will need to make sure that it would be valid at the time of our intakes the earliest of which is in March 2019. To be appointed with Gloucestershire Constabulary you will need to be successful at all stages of our process.

How much will I be paid? Pay scales for new full time Gloucestershire Police Constables

On joining with no experience £20,370 (Paypoint 0)

Independent patrol status achieved £23,586 (Paypoint 1)

12 months after Paypoint 1 achieved £24,654 (Paypoint 2)

Thereafter annual increments apply



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And FinallyWe appreciate there is a lot of information for you to read and understand. We hope this has helped you in making your decision to apply to Gloucestershire Constabulary. We look forward to receiving an application from you and hope that you are successful in the process. In the meantime if there is anything we can help you with please email us:

[email protected] and we will get back to you as quickly as we can.

Thank you and the very best of luck with your application!

Gloucestershire ConstabularyHeadquarters, No.1 Waterwells, Waterwells Drive, Quedgeley, Gloucester, GL2 2AN


/Gloucestershire.Constabulary @glos_police

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Police Officer RecruitmentSeptember 2018 Version 2

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Gloucestershire Constabulary · hosted performances from Little Mix, Lionel Richie, Tom Jones and Elton John. ... Thank you and the very best of luck with your application! Gloucestershire