Peter's journey into policing

Banking, insurance, and project manager for a GP surgery were just some of the roles I did prior to joining the police force. I always wanted to be a police officer at some point in my career and after talking with friends and family, hearing about the positive difference I could make to local communities I was inspired to start my application.

passed the initial written application and was invited to attend the assessment centre where I was interviewed and took a maths and English paper alongside assessed role plays. On passing these stages I took both my medical, fitness test and vetting and was provided with a start date.

My training was 23 weeks of learning law, completing role plays and officer safety training, all held at Devizes Head Quarters. It was a mixture of both classroom and practical learning and gave me the tools and insight I needed to become a police officer.

They say it is a role like no other, it is! I have many different policing “hats” I put on depending on the job I go to. This makes being a police officer a varied role. Once you have completed your probationary period, you can specialise in a role that you want to focus on and gather new skills, this could be a role in firearms, traffic, dogs, detective etc. I am now in a position where I can take my next steps in my policing career. I have been involved in tutoring four of the new recruits over the last few months and have really enjoyed sharing my experience with them.

There can be some challenges to the role. As well as being proactive there is the paperwork that comes with the job. Being dyslexic I can find case files that I need to prepare for court challenging, however, Wiltshire Police have always supported me.

Being a police officer has helped me develop new skills inside and out of the role and I have become more confident as an individual. The most rewarding part of the job is changing someone’s life for the better or even saving a life. To me there is nothing more rewarding than being able to save a life.

Police Constable Peter Burden