Detective Constable
1. Overview
Are you inquisitive, tenacious and passionate? Do you have a keen eye for detail? Are you prepared to challenge assumptions and not take information at face value?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then you should consider a career as a detective at Leicestershire Police.
Traditionally, the conventional way to become a detective was to join the force as a police constable and be confirmed in rank, but as crime changes, so does our recruitment process. Our Detective programme gives you the opportunity to join our talented and professional team of detectives, carrying out crime investigations across the county. The two-year programme is designed to equip you with all the skills and training necessary to ensure you will have the experience and confidence to deal with serious and complex investigations as a fully-fledged Detective Constable.
You will begin your learning journey as a uniformed Police Constable, joining the Police Constable Entry Programme, one of four initial Police Constable entry routes into policing approved by the College of Policing. In year 1 you will undertake a 25 week initial training program followed by 12 weeks working operationally in uniform under the guidance of tutor in order to gain independent patrol status (IPS). Once this has been reached you will work independently as a Neighbourhood Patrol Officer until Month 23.
In the second year you will transition into the Trainee Detective role where you will undertake a placement within the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team. Further training will involve a classroom based learning program designed to strengthen your critical thinking and problem solving skills and undertake a CID course. You will also undertake the National Investigators Examination (NIE) and the Professionalising Investigation Programme (PIP2) alongside the completion of your operational competency folder to achieve full operational competency as a constable and become an accredited detective.
What does a detective do?
The role of a detective constable is not too dissimilar to the role of police constable; both are of the same rank, but have different operational roles. As a detective, you’ll deal with more serious and complex cases, uncovering the truth and analysing evidence on cases from fraud, domestic abuse to county lines and serious assaults, plus many more.
Once qualified and accredited there are also opportunities to specialise in a significant number of areas such as, counter terrorism, serious and organised crime and intelligence. As well as being responsible for securing vital evidence shortly after a crime is committed, and through tenacity, after what is sometimes a lengthy investigation, see the offender brought to justice and dealt with at court, whilst supporting victims through this journey.
Being a detective is a demanding, fast paced job, but a role that also comes with huge rewards and job satisfaction. We're looking for individuals who have that curiosity and drive to follow every lead and ultimately discover the truth behind situations and get results.
Training and cohort
Your training will last for 37 weeks and throughout this period your leave will be pre-booked.
If you have any prior holidays or arrangements, throughout this period, we will not be able to accommodate these and will not be able to offer you a place on this cohort.
We only have a limited number of places for this cohort and will be selecting the highest scoring candidates.