Chris

I enrolled in Cadets in April 2017 until April 2018. After I left the cadet programme I moved straight on to being  a Special Constable whilst finishing my final year in sixth form, completing A-levels in History, Psychology and Philosophy, Ethics and Theology. Whilst being a Special I went to Hope University to study History and Politics, all the while working a part time job in Tesco on stock control. Whilst in university, I applied to be a Police Constable in Merseyside Police and thankfully my application was successful, I left university to commit to my dream job.

At the moment I have just been signed off from my tutor phase and I am currently embarking on the completion of my Diploma for my probationary period. I absolutely did not see myself in my dream role this early on and I am very thankful to the Cadet and Specials teams for helping me achieve what I wanted.

Cadets massively helped me get to this position. If it were not for yourselves on the cadet programme then I would not have been inspired and so determined to join Merseyside Police. Cadets offered the insight into the role that I needed to decide on my goal, in addition to offering as much Police information as possible to not only assist me in interview but also my day to day role as a whole.

Although I am a little biased my advice for someone thinking of joining the Cadet programme would be an absolute yes. If you have any interest in joining the Police then it is the go to step for a young person’s insight into the role. What’s more, I owe cadets a great deal of gratitude for bolstering my confidence levels tenfold. At the start of the programme I was incredibly shy and unsure of myself, by the end of the programme I had made a multitude of close friends. I was also taking part in public speaking events to chief officers with ease, assisting police officers on Operation Bangor, and ultimately I was a well and truly happier and more motivated person. With the latter in mind, even if someone doesn’t have any interest in joining the police, the Cadet programme is the gold standard of worthwhile experiences. I had the time of my life in the programme and despite my current role , I miss it dearly! The friends I made there are friends for life and the confidence and life skills I gained will be with me forever.