SOUTH WALES POLICE Employee Reviews

This job can be extremely challenging and demanding but also supremely rewarding. The emergency calls dealt with range from deeply disturbing, to exhilaratingly exciting to hilarious/ mind-blowing and sometimes all of these within the same hour.There is always someone to refer to for the more complex situations but be prepared to constantly be alert, think on your feet and act immediately with confidence. Negatives - you will be micro managed within an inch of your life. On a 10 hour shift, you're entitled to a 45 min mealbreak and a couple of very quick toilet breaks. It is very full on with no downtime (except maybe towards the end of a busy nightshift). It can be very draining.Positives- there is no feeling like playing your part in saving someone's life or assisting your caller whilst they are experiencing the very worst moments of their lives. It can give you an enormous buzz and feeling of satisfaction. N.B being a radio dispatcher is unbearable at the moment. The volume of incidents you are expected to deal with is impossible for even the most experienced member of staff. If things go wrong, the results can be catastrophic for both members of the public and the dispatcher. The Organisation spout all the right platitudes but if things go wrong, expect to be in the firing line.

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Modern Policing?

Police Officer (Former Employee) - Bridgend, Bridgend - 9 August 2017

From a 'frontline' perspective, police management have gone far too much toward pleasing everyone except their own staff. Today's Political Correctness is stretched to include idiotic matters which reduce the effectiveness of those tasked with keeping law and order.

Pros

Comradery

Cons

Modern managers

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Insights into SOUTH WALES POLICE

Based on 28 survey responses

What people like

Support from manager
Ability to meet personal goals
Ability to learn new things

Areas for improvement

Time and location flexibility
General feeling of work happiness
Supportive environment

active and rewarding

Special Constable (Former Employee) - Swansea - 24 July 2017

As a special constable the duties differ slightly to those of a regular officer. Variety of duties. No time to get bored as one day is never the same as another.

Pros

satisfaction

Cons

stress

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Great career prospects/room to grow

Call Handler (Former Employee) - Cardiff - 7 July 2017

Whilst often working in a high pressured environment due to the nature of business, the opportunities to further your career are endless. Work life balance can sometimes be compromised but this can be resolved with the right management team on board.

Pros

Great pay scale

Cons

Long hours/often stressful demanding tasks

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enjoyed working here

Personal Assistant/Administrator (Former Employee) - Bridgend - 28 June 2017

Enjoyed working at South Wales Police, opportunities to progress if you so wish to. Lots of training to go on if you were interested in progressing yourself.

Pros

good pension

Cons

hard to get into different departments

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Avoid at all costs

Police Constable (Former Employee) - Bridgend, Bridgend - 6 June 2017

Very damned if you do, damned if you dont culture which looks to serve the purposes of those in favour i.e the masons. Again, I cannot stress enough. Avoid at all costs as the work life balance will be completely ruined.

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See below

Detective/Police Constable (Former Employee) - Swansea - 9 May 2017

Mostly a fun workplace with great camaraderie. However a very high pressure job where everyone carried huge workloads and appeared to receive little thanks from many victims as well as other agencies who were supposed to be working with us. We were also required to work overtime, sometimes 20 hour shifts without argument.

Pros

Good camaraderie, and job satisfaction when a good result acchieved.

Cons

Sometimes very long hours, lack of gratitude from some victims and outside agencies, massive work pressures and workloads.

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An excellent employer.

Detective Inspector (Current Employee) - Bridgend, Bridgend - 17 April 2017

An excellent employer which provides great career opportunities supported by the ethos of the Police family and the support networks in place. This is a challenging opportunity for someone who is driven and motivated to serve the public. South Wales Police will do the rest and provide training and equimement enabling you to deliver quality a quality service to the public.

Pros

Great Police family environment

Cons

Heavy workloads and long hours.

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Poor working environment

Clerical/admin assistant (Current Employee) - Cardiff Police Staion - 9 March 2017

Two ters, Police and civilians,not good work ethic, a great deal of harassment and poor recognition, No chance of promotion, as ex police officers always have better jobs

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Reliable employer

Civil Controller (Former Employee) - Bridgend - 9 March 2017

i enjoyed time with SWP, especially the camaraderie of the staff. Exciting job with fairly good prospects and job security. Fun atmosphere with fellow colleagues.

Pros

Good salary

Cons

Shift work

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Jobs at SOUTH WALES POLICE

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Poor management and lack of respect for personal life

Police Constable (Current Employee) - South Wales police - 10 January 2017

Difficult job not very rewarding due to dealing with so many savoury characters the balance is all wrong and there's never any gratitude for good work. Management are very restricting and there is no officer discretion. The police cancel many of your rest days to suit shortages in staff and there is no consideration for plans already made. If your called for court it will most often be your only rest days before going straight back into your normal six days on.

Pros

Steedy income

Cons

Long hours never finish on time don't get paid for working on.

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Rewarding and varied career

Police Officer (Former Employee) - Cardiff City - 28 December 2016

A demanding career which is not for many but it brings out many character traits which you think you did not have, abili6to think on your feet to problem solved and to support other. To be assertive when required..ultimately a rewarding career.

Pros

Pension and wages

Cons

Long hours and unsociable hours of employment

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Unpleasant Employer

Front line and administrative (Former Employee) - South Wales Police - 6 December 2016

First the bad and then the good, I Decided to join from another government department, taking a drop in terms and conditions to seek a rewarding career. Found it one of the most unrewarding employers I've worked for. A typical day at work often involves long hours of training, unpaid travel, numerous relocations of your job, excessive scrutiny of your capabilities and unreasonable expectations. If you make a mistake this will be recorded in your file and used to dismiss you after a lengthy and dishonest capability process. Management will be all smiles and politeness throughout. Co workers some are good some are bad, the hardest part of the job is the stress coming at you from management, officers and public. If you are looking for a work life balance do not work here. The good points after suffering a complete nervous breakdown and separation due to the job and family life issues I was sent to Occupational health who did a fine job of trying to help me before management sent me on my way to the unemployment queue at the job centre with an unfair black hole in my CV.

Pros

Good medical teams

Cons

Everything

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Fun Workplace

NCALT Administrator (Current Employee) - Bridgend - 13 July 2016

Very Good Work Colleagues Hard Working Teams Poor Communication from Management Most enjoyable part of the day is working together to acheive our deadlines with very good products. Hardest part of the job is lack of communication whilst going through job uncertainties.

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work expirience

Work Experience (Former Employee) - Bridgend - 29 March 2016

it was work expirience i didnt get paid but pverall i really enjoyed it, may consider it in the future. long hours were hard though

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Police Officer.

Police Officer (Former Employee) - Maesteg - 25 February 2016

The police is a way of life not just a job. If you can adapt to the life, the culture, the hours and the demand you may find this career extremely rewarding. If you cannot adapt you will be quickly found out and ruthlessly exposed. Opportunity for advancement either for promotion or specialisation is present, however, extremely competitive. Management support is very much dependant on the individual manager, the circumstances and their affection for an individual.

Pros

Ultimate job satisfaction when helping the public.

Cons

Long, damanding shifts.Stress of police work and personal danger.

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Worst employers

Custody Officer (Current Employee) - Merthyr Tydfil - 24 February 2016

If you dont mind not having a life outside of work then this is the job for you. This organisation will just use you. And do not expect any thanks for anything because you wont get any. My advice...Stay well clear.

Pros

Cant think of any

Cons

No family life

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Challenging job in a challenging environment

Civilian Detention Officer (Current Employee) - Cardiff, WLS - 20 January 2016

Dealing with non-compliant prisoners on a daily basis. Although job is demanding it is also rewarding. The hardest part of the job is coming to terms with the fact that we are severely underpaid for the job that we do. I have learned that there are many aspects to peoples personalities and that one should not judge a book by its cover. co-workers are fantastic and working relationships are brilliant despite receiving little ot no support from upper management.

Pros

good working relationships with co-workers

Cons

poorly paid, long shifts, non compliant prisoners

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tough

officer (Former Employee) - WLS - 31 December 2015

Long shifts for the paye you receive, very little support from SMT ... Can be rewarding ref public perception when detecting and preventing crime

Pros

four days off

Cons

long shifts

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Interesting, Challenging and Rewarding

Performance Analyst (Current Employee) - Bridgend - 18 August 2015

Multi-tasking and prioritising your workload daily to deal with demands. You have to negotiate your way through your priorities. I have learnt the importance of team work and being confident in putting my change ideas out there for consideration. I have learnt that different managers have different styles and understanding this can assist in your delivery of products. The hardest part of my job is dealing with the demand within a set time frame. You have to be confident to make the tough calls and believe in what you do and that it is the best you can do. The most rewarding part of the job is seeing your ideas come to fruition. Being asked to brief others on your ideas and getting positive feedback and guidance. A flattened management structure that allows you to develop your skills and take on new challenges.

Pros

Personal Development if you motivate yourself

Cons

Lack of financial reward

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Professional Organisation

Field Intelligence Officer (Current Employee) - Cardiff - 18 April 2015

I have worked within this organisation all of my life. It is a highly professional environment to work within in sometimes very testing circumstances.