1. Who we’re looking for

Academic qualifications

You don’t need any qualifications to become a Special Constable.

Age

You can apply when you are 17, but you must be 18 or older when you join us.

There is no upper age limit for applying to the police service.

Driving licence

Special Constables are not required to have a driving licence.

You need to tell us about other jobs or business interests you want to keep up after you join us so we can ensure they do not conflict with working for the police. This is all part of maintaining our high standards.

You must not be a current or historic member of an extreme political organisation such as a BNP, National Front or Combat 18 or similar organisations. 

Political restrictions apply to police officers – these are stated in the role profile or job description.

Political Restrictions are determined under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. Police officers are prevented from having any active political role either in or outside the workplace and will automatically be disqualified from standing for or holding elected office.  They are also restricted from canvassing on behalf of a political party or a person who is or seeks to be a candidate and speaking to the public at large or publishing any written or artistic work that could give the impression that they are advocating support for a political party.

Ideally, you should not have any criminal conviction or cautions. If you do have one, acceptance will depend on the age and nature of the offence. It is not possible to set out a full list of convictions that will preclude a person from becoming a police officer.  

Each case will be considered on its own merits, and if the offence is deemed sufficiently serious a person will be rejected irrespective of age at time of offending. There may be circumstances where an individual does not fall within the criteria, but whose suspected involvement in crime, or criminal associations make an offer of employment inappropriate. 

National convictions guidelines can be viewed here 

Policing isn’t easy.  You don’t need to be an Olympic athlete to join us, but you do need to be relatively fit and healthy to cope with the demands of the job.

Fitness

You need to be able to successfully complete a fitness test called the ‘bleep test’.  Start preparing now by watching our fitness video for tips.

Find out more on the College of Policing website.

Health

Some medical conditions can prevent you from being able to cope with the physical and mental demands of the job. HM government medical standards information gives full details on illnesses, injuries and disorders that will affect your ability to work as a police officer.

If your BMI sits outside of the standard range of between 18-30, you are still encouraged to apply and will be able to progress through the recruitment process where:

• You have successfully passed the Job-Related Fitness Test (JRFT)
• Occupational Health has assessed you as being medically fit for the role
• Occupational Health has recorded a clinical justification confirming that BMI alone does not present a medical risk in the context of the role
• No other medical concerns are identified

Where a candidate’s BMI sits outside the standard range and there are additional medical considerations, further review will be required.

Eyesight

You must meet the police eyesight standards. These are the same no matter which force you join. Your eyesight is tested as part of your medical, which takes place during the application process.  

If you’re not from the UK, you must be a resident in the UK and have lived here continuously for the last three years. You must also be free from restrictions with indefinite leave to remain.

If you’re from the UK, you must have lived here continuously for the last three years. This doesn’t apply to those serving abroad in the British Armed Forces.

As a publicly funded organisation, the force has a responsibility to ensure that resources such as training, uniform and subsistence costs are used appropriately and not inadvertently misspent. This can sometimes occur when candidates submit multiple applications at the same time.

As a force, we are supportive of helping candidates achieve their career goals. However, this must not come at the expense of public funds. For this reason, you are welcome to complete the online stages of the Special Constable recruitment process, including the National Sift process, however your application will then be paused until the outcome of your police officer application is known. If you are successful in your application to become a police officer, we will wish you every success and your Special Constable application will be closed. If you are unsuccessful, you will then be able to continue with your Special Constable application, which may be ‘fast tracked’ depending on the stage you had reached in the recruitment process.

If you start your police officer application during the Special Constable process, just let us know and we can pause your application until the outcome is known

Several jobs are considered incompatible with the role of a Special Constable. Please check the list to ensure your current employment will allow your application to proceed.

If you start a job in any of the above occupations at any point during your application, or if there are changes in any of the information you provide in your application, you MUST inform us immediately.

• A local authority parking warden
• Anyone working for a security company
• Bailiffs, warrant officers, private detectives and inquiry agents
• Barristers, Solicitors and Judges
• Border and Immigration Officers with powers of arrest
• Civilian enforcement officers
• Clerks to justices and clerks to courts
• Councillors who work within local or regional councils
• Court Usher
• Custody escort officers
• Customs Officers
• Employees of security organisations
• High Sheriff
• Highways Agency Traffic Officers (and traffic officers who are employed by other organisations, such as Vehicle and Operators Services Agency)
• Local Authority field officers e.g trading standards officers
• Magistrates
• Members of employers’ police forces and private constabularies
• Members of Police Authorities
• Members of the fire service, unless written permission is given by their Chief Officer.
• Members of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force
• Neighbourhood and Street Wardens and other uniformed Patrol Wardens
• Persons taking an active part in politics
• Police Community Support Officers
• Prison Custody Officers - Prison Officers are eligible, but only with written permission from their Prison Governor
• Probation officers
• Royal Naval Auxiliary Service
• Security personnel, guards and doormen**
• Serving members of HM Armed Forces*
• The National Hospital Service Reserve
• Traffic Wardens and School Crossing Patrols
• Transport Network Revenue Protection Inspectors
• Vehicle removal officers
• Youth workers and social workers involved in the administration of criminal law

* Some categories of people who have certain Armed Forces Reserve liabilities, may, with the permission of their Armed Forces Record Office, be able to apply, but those who are a member of the ‘regular’ Armed Forces are ineligible. This is due to national police policy, which was developed in consultation with the Ministry of Defence.

 **Security officers who are employed directly by the company that operates the premises they protect (i.e. NOT subcontracted to a security company) may be eligible to apply, but only under the Employer Supported Policing scheme (ESP). Please check with your employer whether they support ESP. Individuals and their employers can visit www.met.police.uk/esp or email: [email protected] for more information on ESP.

As a special constable, you will need to be able to volunteer 16 hours a month on average every year, equating to 200 hours in total per year. Most importantly, the time you give is flexible so you can fit it around your busy lives.

If you are employed, Devon & Cornwall Police has a range of companies signed up to Employee Supported Policing, allowing for extra days off for policing duties or training.

Vetting

Everyone joining the police must be vetted. Vetting checks are an important way to maintain our high standards and reassure our communities that appropriate and relevant checks are done on people who hold a position of trust, such as our officers and staff.

We will carry out checks on you and your:

• Family and Associates
• Co residents
• Financial Circumstances
• Social Media

These checks are carried out because police officers have access to sensitive information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption.

Applicants with outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJs) 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. If you have an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA), you can apply but will need to provide at least 6 months of regular payments. 

Tips for speeding up the process

Vetting is a comprehensive process. The length of time these checks can take varies from individual to individual but typically it can take around two months. You should not worry if it takes slightly longer than this.

There are some things you can do to help make this process more efficient: 

• Ensure all information you are providing is accurate and detailed.
• Always be open and honest with your information to enable the vetting unit to process your application as efficiently as possible.
• Check your application thoroughly before submitting, including for spelling errors.
• Ensure you have all the required documentation to support your application.
• Provide prompt and full responses to our questions. If in doubt about the relevance of any information, tell us, and let us decide.
• Check your junk or spam folder in case a message from us has gone there.

References

These will be sought from previous employers, educational, volunteering establishments and personal references where required and must cover a minimum of five years. All references will consider your suitability for the role and include performance /attendance checks (informal and formal) and any disciplinary matters. For volunteering references, this will also include duty hours completed and for educational references, qualifications received.

As part of the pre-requisites process you will be required to undergo drugs testing. All drug testing processes are entirely confidential and only the presence of illegal substances will be disclosed to the Resourcing team (by the third-party drug testing laboratory). Prescribed medication, including that for individuals with certain disabilities or individuals that may be transitioning, is not tested for in the process.

As part of the recruitment process all tattoos are reviewed. If you’ve got a tattoo, you’ll need to tell us about it when you apply. We’ve got a tattoo policy that you’ll need to meet.

When you receive your conditional offer, you will be sent our standards of dress policy, which outlines what piercings are acceptable.