Who we looking for

• Above all, the feeling that you really are making a difference – making a positive contribution in the fight against crime
• Sense of personal fulfilment
• Develop personal and professional skills
• Learn and develop many transferable skills that often support paid employment or other roles/personal life: e.g. managing confrontational situations, leadership and personal safety
• Personal satisfaction of learning new skills and gaining confidence
• Learn more about policing
• Show your community that you care
• Meet new people
• Work as part of a team
• Enjoy new experiences
• Discover new things about yourself and just how much you are capable of
• Leadership skills

To apply to become a special you must:

• You must be 17 or older when applying to be a special constable, but you will not be able to take up appointment as a special constable until reaching the age of 18.

• be a British Citizen, a European Union/European Economic Area national or commonwealth citizen, or a foreign national with no restrictions on your stay in the UK
• have a minimum of three years continuous residency in the UK, with less than 12 months spend abroad in the last three years (with some exceptions for those living on a UK military base)
• be able to pass our fitness test, reaching level 5.4 on a 15 metre shuttle run (bleep test)
• not currently undertaking a restricted occupation

No specific qualifications are required to enable you to become a special constable.

A conviction or caution is not an automatic eliminator. You must ensure that you disclose all details of any offences however minor, failure to declare any offences may mean that your application is rejected. Checks will be made, each will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Driving convictions

Depending on the severity of the conviction this may affect your application, for example if you have been convicted of drink driving in the last 10 years then it is likely your application will be refused.

Criminal record of a family member

If your family member has been convicted of a serious offence - eg burglary - then it is likely that your application will be refused.

Financial troubles

Applicants must have not been declared bankrupt with outstanding debts, have outstanding County Court Judgements against them or be subject to a current Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). If you have any of these then it is likely that your application will be refused.

An individual who has spent a significant period of time overseas without returning to the UK, but with the intention of doing so in the future, such as an individual who takes a gap year prior to or following university or an individual who goes travelling for a year, is considered to have taken an extended holiday. As such, they will maintain residency in the UK and therefore be eligible for consideration under the Residency Criteria.

West Midlands Police apply a maximum time spent out of the UK as 12 months and must be for the reasons stated above (working outside the UK for an extended period is not covered in the above), however, we will discuss any potential issues on a case by case basis.

We will try to accommodate your preference. However, we would usually look to post you to a location near to your home address unless there are specific circumstances to preclude this.

To be ‘Sworn in’, means that you will be in front of a magistrate, possibly at court and will be required to recite the oath of allegiance to the King.

Special Constables are voluntary – they are not paid. You will however be reimbursed for travel expenses and issued with a uniform and appropriate protective equipment.

All special constables are advised to inform their employers of their appointment and the hours they are likely to perform each week so as to satisfy certain requirements under the Working Time Regulations (WTR).