British Police Forces

Rothmans

This may seem a silly question but google cannot provide me with an answer.
Irish citizens can join the British Army withoutout having prior residence in the UK. However, I would like to know if Irish citizens can do so with any British police force (apart from the PSNI)

StreetAngel

i remember looking into that briefly before and the upshot was that you have to have been residing in the UK for at least 2 years!! :rolleyes:

Geri Boyle

Moved to Emergency Services from Garda Recruitment.

Delancey

There is a general requirement of 2 years UK residency immediately prior to application for any UK force - this includes Scottish forces and outfits such as BTP. The only exception is the P.S.N.I. which will accept 2 years residency in the ROI instead.

shakin

Its three years for the met AFAIK, perhaps it varies among forces?

Delancey

shakin wrote: »

Its three years for the met AFAIK, perhaps it varies among forces?

Thought it was 2 years everywhere though I wouldn't be surprised if The Met were different - kinda academic really given the recruitment freezes now on in so many forces - even the Met have drastically curtailed hiring.

Finnbar01

I also heard that forces in the UK are thinking about changing their recruitment policy. You have to have done at least one year (?) working as a special constable.

Sierra One

All English, Welsh and Scottish Forces require three years residency immediately prior to application. This rule had been relaxed but post 7/7 was reintroduced.

At present no Force anywhere in the UK is recruiting new Constables, and it is unlikely that any recruitment will occur for up to 3 years.

A number of Forces are taking Special Constables at present and the residency requirement is the same for this role. The Met has stated prior service as a Special will assist those applying for PC vacancies but it will not guarantee a candidate is successful in securing a job.

Delancey

Finnbar01 wrote: »

I also heard that forces in the UK are thinking about changing their recruitment policy. You have to have done at least one year (?) working as a special constable.

My understanding is that The Met require prior service as a ' Special ' though this of course does not guarantee entry to the regular ranks. Given the tendency of other UK forces to follow the Mets lead it can be expected that other forces will introduce this requirement.

The need to have service as a Special is causing problems for PCSO's ( Police Community Support Officers ) many of whom took the job as a ' foot in the door ' - they are specifically prohibited from serving as Specials meaning they are unable to join as regular Police Officers.