New degree program is not the way forward. The workload is extremely large, lots of uni related work has to be done in own time even tho your told 'there is time allocated'. The university and police bearly have correspondence and theres constant duplication required for both sides. New online only uni was a joke and left me feeling clueless when starting properly. After giving it a year I can say, with the current state of recruitment, degree requirements, workload, stress and over unsatisfactory feeling at work. This career isnt for me. Maybe I'll return when things change.

Pros

Pention, every year get a pay increase for 7 years.

Cons

New team every 3 during 3 year probation. No guarantee of working in area of policing you want.

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I felt that I was doing something worthwhile and valuable to the community.

Lead Computer Officer (Oracle Developer) (Former Employee) - Birmingham - 26 June 2022

I really enjoyed my time at West Midlands Police. The other staff made me feel like I was part of one big family. I worked hard and knew that I was achieving something to be proud of.

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Insights into West Midlands Police

Based on 26 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Trust in colleagues
Sense of belonging
Energising work tasks

No support

Business Support Officer (Current Employee) - Birmingham - 6 June 2022

Do not support staff.No flexibility.Jobs constantly under threat.Working hours are good.Very management heavy.Always expected to pick up more and more tasks for no recognition.

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Overworked stressful and restrictive

Response Officer (Current Employee) - Perry Barr, West Midlands - 21 April 2022

Restricted holidaysStressful work Poor trainingNo flexibility Poor parkingLack of experience Too many managersPoor IT systemsContinual changeLittle support from police federation

Pros

Regular pay

Cons

As above

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Not the best experience!

Force Contact (Former Employee) - Birmingham - 31 March 2022

WMP have chronic recruitment and retention issues and need to question why so many civilian staff and officers are leaving. I worked as staff in Force Contact and there are lots of lovely people who work there. However, there are some toxic environments and if you decide to work there keep your mouth shut regarding anything personal and don’t show any form of emotion or weakness. There are a lot of interesting aspects to the job and I don’t regret the experience. The working atmosphere just wasn’t right for me unfortunately.

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Interesting , engaging, And staff are the best

Public contact officer (Former Employee) - West Midlands - 6 March 2022

Management in force contact is awful. But the staff you work with are lovely The work itself gets old but it is interesting as it’s very human based Always problem solving here

Pros

Staff you work with are nice, Everyday is a new day, Working shifts so 6 days on and 3 days off or 4 if you work night shifts

Cons

Management, Tied into a 2 year contract in department, no progression if not police officer, shift work with night shifts, 10-hour shifts

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A rewarding job with challenges

Police Officer (Current Employee) - Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands - 2 February 2022

A typical day as a response officer. You'll come into what we call the 'nick' approximately 20 minutes before briefing, get kitted up and head into the briefing room. There'll either be a few teas brewed or you'll be free to brew a tea for yourself and/or your colleagues. One thing you'll notice is that there will be a range people from different ages, backgrounds, colours, some more than others. This will be made of up student officers, some older serving ones, etc. The conversation will generally be about world events, what has happened recently on the job, or for those more inclined, things that have happened in your personal lives or things you've gotten up to on the weekend. If you're more introverted (like myself), this is a time to enjoy listening and chiming in on the conversation as appropriate. The Sargent and occasionally Inspector will then pop in, allocate your callsigns and who you'll be working with for the day, and go over any briefing notes. From there, you can either remain in the office to catch up with any admin work, but it won't be long before you're attached a job which can be anything from a sudden death to live break in, or something more common and sometimes repetitive such as a domestic incident. You'll deal with the job accordingly (arrest, organising for the appropriate department to collect a body, gather an account from a victim, refferals), and then you'll head back to the station to crime and do any further admin.In short, this is generally the day of a response officer. It sounds simple enough, and in a way it is, but like with any job, there -

Pros

Plenty of scope for development specialisation and promotion, good on the job support for physical mental heath and other troubles, other concessions through Polfed such as support with finding a house, active encouragement for development, it is generally easy to book of leave, plenty of scope for overtime if that's your thing, can be a rewarding job in many ways, you'll be regularly surprised that you are capable of dealing with out of the ordinary demands

Cons

This is a make or break sink or swim job, the initial pay is quite low initially and it takes a while to go up the scale, approx £1450 - £1500 after tax and pension first year), not much in terms of job recognition, initial training is limited (a lot is learned on the job once you start), some people may not have the patience to deal with some quite difficult times when you feel left, may initially feel bored with little to do, some people genuinely dislike this job and I can fully understand why, requires time to give the job a chance which many people do not have

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Boring, long hours and underpaid

Police Officer (Current Employee) - Birmingham - 28 January 2022

Pay is not good, people are not the best.Your welfare is not as important as they say it is.Your work is more important than if you have ate during the day. Its just annoying

Pros

Nothing is.

Cons

Long hours. Dont care about your breaks. They just want the work done. Dont care if you eat or not

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Good job, toxic environment

Employee (Current Employee) - West Midlands - 29 December 2021

The job itself isn’t a problem, in fact I’ve loved most of the 18 years work there. The environment is toxic and the politics drag you down eventually. There is a distinct lack of development across the board meaning your self confidence will suffer in the long run.

Pros

Flexible hours

Cons

Toxic environment which will drag you down (eventually).

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Poorly managed horrendous environment

Staff (Former Employee) - Birmingham - 14 December 2021

For such a large force with all the adverts and media this is one of the worst run forces in the uk.Poor management at every level..Seems as though once a person is promoted or has a slight level of authority that they must also hand over their backbone and a few brain cells.Nobody can make a decision as they are all scared of what might happen.New uni student officers are shockingly terrible and have no interest in staying in the job ..most ate leaving once they have gained a degree...some are very open about this.Management and supervision are constantly trying to put square pegs in round holes.Officers with years of experience on the streets are being forced to sit behind a desk in investigation...where I might add...cicivilian staff earn double sometimes triple of that officer...no care of duty shown to anybody that raises any concern....you are just a number remember..they will replace you ina second...Sickness is through the roof...But if you are from a different background.. or sexuality you will go very very far in west midlands police...probably be promoted in a week.Stay away if you like your family and your mental health...Join as a pcso and enjoy life.

Pros

None

Cons

All of it

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Jobs at West Midlands Police

Criminal Records Officer

Detention/Escort Officer

West Midlands

10 days ago

Thankless job

Force contact (Former Employee) - Birmingham, West Midlands - 6 December 2021

You work long hours including nights depending on your contract, but as it’s a 24 hour service there is no such thing as a weekend. Good pay and benefits but hard to get any time off due to poor staffing numbers. You can either do your job to a satisfactory level or put your all in but get the same level of acknowledgement from seniors which is usually a generic email now and again to thank you for your hard work and service.

Pros

Blue light card, good pay

Cons

Long tiring hours for minimal recognition

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Micro managed .. no loyalty to staff

Police staff (Former Employee) - Lloyd house birmingham - 1 November 2021

It used to be a joy to work for the organisation. Now staff are micro managed and the public do not receive a service.Staff are under pressure to do too perform to many tasks at once.

Pros

None

Cons

Shift work

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Enjoyable challenging

Police (Current Employee) - West Midlands - 5 May 2021

Having worked West Mids Police a lot of changes came in place . This put a lot pressure on officers and civilian staff alike. Different challenge everyday. Rewarding but can face challenges.not job for everyone edpecially if easily stressed or offended. Need be very resillient

Pros

Meet community, rewarding . Good team work

Cons

Long hours, short staff . Abuse daily, not always finish on timrfinish

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WAS great, Don't know now

Police Officer (Former Employee) - Kings Heath - 15 March 2021

I started 18 years ago and would have gone in for free!!Someone once told me that when the job stops being fun, it is time to leave which I did.My last years were filled with interviewing people who had insulted each other on Facebook, I would imagine that part of the job has worsened.The job used to be brilliant, arresting people who had done crimes ect, when I left it was a lot of social work, local authority work and just about anything that was nothing to do with policing.

Pros

pay

Cons

staying on duty, well after your hometime

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Secure job with lots of learning available

Control Room Supervisor (Current Employee) - Coventry - 10 January 2021

I have enjoyed working for West Midlands police since 2002. There have been a number of development opportunities and I have developed well as a person because of it.

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Public amazing - management and MOST officers terrible

Detective/CID Officer (Former Employee) - Birmingham, West Midlands - 2 September 2020

Worked as an officer for 11 years and the bullying that you can get was terrible! They take away all that you stand for and treat you like dirt if you don’t want or agree with their culture. I suffered terrible depression from bullying and just worked alone to save any horrible situations! I ended up being medically retired for an illness but relieved in a way . I would definitely not recommended this as a place for anyone to work

Pros

Member of the public

Cons

Bullying culture

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Challenging and rewarding

Police Constable (Former Employee) - Wednesfield, West Midlands - 28 August 2020

Job can be very challenging and rewarding at times, long anti social hours but can be exciting, you have to expect sometimes your days off are cancelled or at the end of your shift you have to stay on, you may have to deal with vert traumatic incidents. However it is a secure job, can be exciting, adrenaline rushing and sometimes fun

Pros

rewarding

Cons

long hours

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Challenging

Contact Handler (Former Employee) - West Bromwich, West Midlands - 29 May 2020

A lot to learn in a short space of time. I found the training hard and the nature of the job stressful. Also the shifts, I wasn't suited to the environment.

Pros

Secure

Cons

Shifts

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Horrible place to work

PCSO/Contact Officer (Former Employee) - HQ - 22 May 2020

If you like looking over your shoulder all day, this is for you. There is a culture of whistleblowing and you are expected to uphold standards that are difficult for a normal human being.

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Competative fast paced busy roles

Police community& vulnerability Officer (Current Employee) - Digbeth - 27 April 2020

Busy and competitive working, physically demanding as well as mentally demanding./ lots of flexible working if it works within the department /team. very welcoming to a diverse work force, I am retiring from front line policing due to health reasons

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Not recommended

Force Contact (Former Employee) - West midlands - 19 April 2020

I proudly worked as a civilian for over 20 years, dealing with the public face to face and via the phone. Once a very enjoyable and rewarding job and now no resemblance to the job I was interviewed for (also having to be re interviewed for your own job that you have years of experience was insulting) Poor management with more chiefs than Indians with staff under lots of pressure and stress and given more tasks added to job description with no regard for the wellbeing of the individual. Force contact is a shambles with management wondering why staff sickness levels are high especially with mental heath issues caused by working for WMP with no support in place. This once well oiled machine is no longer giving a good service to the public and I for one got fed up of fobbing members of the public off why we cant or wont do anything about the crime or issues they have become victims of because of policy changes. Where once we were all part of a big family/team this is no longer the case with colleagues belittling and stabbing each other in the back to make themselves look good to supervision, and if you dare to leave you will be ostracized from so called friends with not even a text or call to wish you well. I therefore can not recommend taking up a job if you value your health and social or family life.