Swap the commute for your community
Say goodbye to long commutes and say hello to job satisfaction, training opportunities, career progression and working with supportive teams.
By working closer to home you will be able to cut your commute and give back to the community that surrounds you. The work you do in policing will ultimately keep your friends, family and neighbours safe.
We have many ways you can join policing, as a police officer, PCSO, volunteer, staff member and, for a very short time, as a detective. All our routes suit different education levels and lifestyles.
See current career opportunities.
About Bedfordshire Police
Bedfordshire is a unique county that tackles a huge range of policing issues. We have lots of rural areas and metropolitan areas like Luton, which is likened to a London borough. Our commuter routes via trainlines, motorways and airport mean the county sees a huge range of people coming in and out which leads to complex issues surrounding human trafficking and county lines. This wide range of potential crime types mean our officers get a lot of different and unique policing experiences.
Being a small force has the benefit of more chances of moving into different teams and less competition for training and promotion openings. As a force we strive to enable our officers to move into roles that suit their lifestyle and personal goals. We want the right people to be working in teams where they excel and come in each day with a passion for policing.
Despite our relatively small size, we lead joint protective services including Armed Policing, Dogs, Roads Policing and Major Crime for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire. We are also the lead force for the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit – a co-ordinated approach from seven forces to tackle serious and organised crime and terrorism. Joining Bedfordshire Police gives you both collaborative and regional opportunities in specialised roles.
PCSOs are established members of the policing family and provide a valuable, highly visible, easily accessible uniformed presence on our streets. They play a real part in keeping our communities safe.
They are often seen keeping a close eye on neighbourhoods, in and around schools and shops and working with local policing team colleagues to find long-term solutions to often thorny problems like anti-social behaviour. This often involves working with partner organisations.
If you have lifestyle commitments that mean you need to be home on time and are not able to commit to overtime, the PCSO role would be ideal for you.
The PCSO role has a shift pattern with earliest start times of 8am and latest of 12am. This role has lots of training opportunities that you can take advantage of and can move into some of our more office-based roles, but you will need to be a police officer if you would like further career progression.
You do not need any formal qualifications to join this role.
Salary starts at £20,619 with annual increments.
Policing is a career that delivers both personal satisfaction and the opportunity to make a real difference within the community.
The role of a police officer is essential in maintaining public safety and order. You will handle things most people never experience in their lives. Your mental, emotional, and physical capabilities will be tested as you deal with difficult and, on occasion, violent individuals. You must maintain a professional approach throughout, no matter what the situation.
It’s a challenging 24/7 service and you will work a range of shifts, including nights. You might miss celebrations, birthdays, or holidays, but you will get the satisfaction of working in a job like no other.
Police officers can take advantage of progression opportunities by climbing the ranks and move into different teams like Cyber Crime, Dogs Unit, Firearms, and the detective route.
If you can be more flexible, the police officer role might be for you. Police officers can work four days on and four days off shift pattern which includes day and nights. They can also move into roles that allow for Monday to Friday shifts with flexible working patterns.
There are three ways to join us as a police officer. There is a route for degree holders, a route for those who have A levels or equivalent, and one for those with no formal qualifications.
Salary starts at £24,780 and varies with each route. There are annual increments for seven years, reaching a total salary over £41,000.
We have an extensive range of staff roles available, ranging from call handlers, investigating officers, administrators, analysts, business support, vehicle maintenance, HR and communications.
Our staff roles are normally Monday to Friday and allow for flexible working hours. We offer staff training and progression opportunities and access to the same support and benefits as our officers.
If you want to work with your community alongside Bedfordshire Police but do not want to leave your current role, you can join us as a special constable or volunteer staff.
Special constables work alongside our police officers on response and with our community teams. They have the same powers as police officers, attend 999 calls and can move into specialist teams.
Specials must commit to volunteering 16 hours a month, which can include evenings and weekends.
Staff volunteers provide administration support to our busy teams. We will assess your skills and place you in team where your skills match best.
Benefits
When working for the force you will have access to onsite parking, onsite gyms, health and wellbeing support, £1,000 London allowance on top of your salary, pension, blue light discounts and more.
As a force we want to support you as much as we can and keep you, with all your knowledge and experience for as long as we can. If you have any medical or wellbeing issues and need to work in a more office-based role, we can support that and will try to place you in a role that best supports your needs.
You can also apply for flexible working hours for your role, this is not guaranteed but we will try our best to support it.
