Breaking barriers in policing and local communities

It's about showing my community that ‘look I've done this. I'm one of you guys as a BAME officer. If I can do it, you can do it.’ So I think it's breaking barriers, not just within the organisation but within my community as well.

After leaving university, I applied for the police initially, it was going back 10 years now. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful at that time. I went back to university, I did my master's degree in crime and criminal justice system. I worked in various mental health settings, gained some work experience. And then I started working as a legal executive at a solicitors based in Lancashire. I worked there for a couple of years, decided I wanted to go back into mental health kind of work. So I got a job as a mental health advocacy manager for a charity based in Lancashire where I worked for three years before joining the police.

I think the challenges anyone in my shoes is going to face is that I've only got two years in, so a lot of people will see that as well ‘you've not done the job long enough’. They don't really look at what you're bringing forward, you know, how you could possibly bring about some change. And I think the PC to inspector role is about identifying people with a skill set that will bring about change, it's about breaking the norm. The police have never done this before.

It's about believing in yourself, knowing that you've got the necessary skill set to make a change and to develop as a leader.

Initially I’d heard about the fast track process before joining the police but I wasn't really sure what it involved or what the criteria was to get onto the process. And it was only once I was allocated a mentor whilst at training school, I had a discussion with my mentor which was a superintendent and we just discussed what roles I’d had previously, work experience, what I’d done. And it was highlighted then to me that ‘you know, you should think about the fast track, I think that you have got the qualities and skill set to do well’.

So it initially involved applying to College of Policing. Once I’d been shortlisted, I attended an internal process at Lancashire which involved a psychometric test, a presentation and an interview. Once I was successful with Lancashire, I got put forward for the national assessment centre which was a two-day gruelling process which I enjoyed. And then once I was successful at that stage it was the inspectors’ exam.

If you are interested in applying for the PC to inspector programme, believe in yourself. Don't listen to negative comments people will say along the way but always believe in yourself. You can make a difference and, with you applying for the PC to inspector programme, you will make that change.