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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Challenging, rewarding, time consuming

Crime Scene Investigator (Current Employee) - Bridgend, South Wales, UK - 29 March 2015

- Typical day - attend an examine all manner of crime scenes with the intention of identifying the culprit. Dealing with members of the public who have been victims of crime and providing them with a professional service. - I learn about people and how to provide individuals with a professional service in accordance with their specific needs and requirements. Learn more skills about the job everyday as each crime scene attended presents different challenges so I have to be dynamic, proactive and focused at all times. - I deal with all levels of management on a daily basis and am able to address or brief them in a confidant and professional manner. I have an excellent relationship with the management hierarchy. - Hardest part of the job can be dealing with un-savoury or gruesome incidents and tragic accidents. However working as a professional in a job of this nature I am secure in the fact that the job I do is vital in identifying what has happened and bringing offenders involved to justice. - The most enjoyable part of the job is knowing that I have made something happen, whether it be putting a stop to a crime wave that has been happening in a certain area or recovering a vital piece of evidence in a serious criminal inquiry. Knowing that I have gone above and beyond what is expected of me and getting results from this is extremely rewarding both personally and for the organization I work for.

Pros

Team work, different challeges everyday

Cons

Poor shift pattern, not a good work/life balance

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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

productive , fun and outgoing

Member (Former Employee) - Bridgend - 11 March 2015

It was a brilliant experience, being a part of a youth team within the South Wales Police, organising seminars and presentations for the public and also trying to get sponsors for the Prince's Trust charity during the police open day.

Pros

good atmosphere, diversity and a laugh

Cons

travel, and later on other commitments came along so was no longer able to continue

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Busy, challenging but rewarding

Public Service Operator (Former Employee) - Bridgend - 24 February 2015

The role was enjoyable in many aspects, the challenge of dealing with real time incidents, of helping people and getting the feeling that you were really making a difference to the people you were dealing with. The downside was that there were many times where you felt that you were working on your own with very little team interaction.

Pros

Free car parking, close to home.

Cons

having to wear an uncomfortable uniform

Excellent Experience

Mounted and Dog Police Handler (Former Employee) - Bridgend, WLS - 4 July 2014

helped me gain knowlegde of a possible career opportunity in the future and also got my knowledge of how that section of the police environment worked.

Pros

Knowlegde Gaining

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Productive

Police Officer (Former Employee) - Swansea - 14 April 2014

This was a work experience back in 2011. It was a great experience and it gave me experience and background to how the police force works. The experience was took part over a course of 5 days, within those 5 days I was able to see everything a police officer had to do. I was able to try on equipment and see how heavy the uniform was.

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Challenging job

Police Community Support Officer (Former Employee) - Swansea - 2 April 2014

Dealing with all aspects in the community. Team work was very important, as you are a public body and have to work together to resolve all issues in the community. Learnt a lot about different cultures and their standards. Hardest part I would say was not achieving your goals as there were some things which could not be resolved. Being part of a very large work force, facing new challenges and expectations, would probably be the most enjoyable and knowing that you made a difference.

Pros

Making a difference in the community

Cons

None

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A fantastic challenging professional environment

Volume Crime Scene Investigator (Former Employee) - Swansea City, WLS - 18 March 2014

Review the list of scenes required to examine. These would be sent via the computer request system. Plan your day around this list. Attend the scenes as required. Carry out forensic exmainations of these scenes. Respond to incoming calls over the police radio as and when appropriate. Write and sketch comprehensive scene notes for use in Court. Securely send your evidence for further analysis to the relevant agencies.

Pros

Making a difference to the public.

Cons

Long shift patterns.

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Police Promat(Identity Parade) Officer (Former Employee) - Cardiff - 27 January 2014

Patrol duties,complete advanced driving and motorcycle courses. Deal with great variety of situations and members of public from various walks of life.Formulation and completion of identity parades via computer system,then create a stress free environment for witnesses/victims of crime to view completed parade. I had to deal with many stressfuls siuations where we had to help people who may have suffered a great trauma or loss such as a bereavement. However each day presented different challenges which at times could be very rewarding.

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