Hiatus

I'm back! What a hiatus it was. Getting back wasn't easy when you completely forget what email you are using. Shame.

What has happened in the intervening year of absence?

A lot ... and at the same time - not much has changed either.

I completed my application earlier this year under the impression I had reached the Mimimum requirements listed on the QPS website. A followup call from Police Recruiting informed me otherwise and said I had two options: Present additional tertiary study or continue working at a full-time level for 6 months in order to reach Minimum work experience criteria.

Having submitted all the tertiary study I had accrued on my original application, my application was "paused" and placed on hold. Now that the time has flown by, a quick call to the Police Recruiting Hotline has placed my application back to "active" so that I can proceed to the next stage of applicant/recruit testing.

So what did I do in the meantime? If you have the opportunity to better yourself for the Force what are some things to do?
Fitness of course benefitted from the extra time for training, but I wanted to do more.

I ended up choosing to spend the time upgrading my licence and learning sign language. Two skills that I feel will improve how my application is recieved when compared against other applications with the stock-standard Open Charlie (Car-only licence class). I already have my motorcycle unrestricted open class - so now the knowledge of car, bike and truck will be a big standout I hope. WE WILL SEE....

And Sign Language? I thought this would be a great tool to use not only for police entry but on the job too. As an officer on the beat, you should be prepared to run into all sorts of situations and that includes members from the Deaf community. And besides, Signing is a lot of fun just on its own.

So after such a long hiatus? Still not a cop, but I feel a lot closer now than before.

Desire?

Where did the desire to be in the force come from?

Is it a white-knight desire?
Is it something you've always been fascinated in?
Is it just the money?
Is it the secure job?

What makes you want to be a copper?

You don't get many of these questions when you announce you have the dream of being on the force. You don't get much advice. You don't get much love at all. One of my friends even went as far as saying that come graduation day at the academy, she'll pretty much have zero to do with me there on out.

Having support is an important thing however, so you will need to tell your closest why it matters to you so much for their support. (and naturally, healthy relationships should be supportive). Supporting yourself is also important - we all go through highs and lows in terms of motivation and confidence and being able to maintain the "whys" of your dream always help to comfort those lows.

For me personally, I have always been fascinated with the police force. To serve and protect. To catch criminals and help victims. To have lights, sirens, and many legislative exceptions. And the responsibility.

How about you?

Starting somewhere

Whenever we set out to achieve a goal, be it something simple from groceries to a holiday to our dreams, there is always that starting place; the hopeless place where nothing has been achieved and all that we can achieved lay before us.

The idea to blog about my experiences from the humble beginnings - the "being a police officer MAY be a career option" to following each week and month and my experiences from application, entry, academy and recruit was a hard-decision.

It stemmed from the inability to find a peer group online that shared that goal of Policing. There are many private policing forums, however most require resumes of policing experience - some even go far as background checking with the relevant police board with your badge number. As an outsider trying to get it, I figured there must be many others who are also looking for something to help them.

The next natural step was "how about a blog?"

This is my first post, and, naturally I have already begun my journey towards becoming a police officer, but I hope that as I experience the different stages of application and entry testing, that these experiences can be used by others as learning tools to help their entry as well.

I'm going to come back and post specific details in my next blog post, and go from there.

Cheers.