Alisha Ede

I am a full time stay at home mum of a three and five-year-old. I joined Bedfordshire Police as a special constable in June 2015. Before I joined the specials, I worked for the East of England Ambulance Service and worked alongside partner services, like the police. I admired the police and have always wanted to join. I really enjoyed my job with the ambulance service and thought I could get the best of both worlds as a special constable.

The police service is a real integral part of society. They protect and care for residents, fight crime and are there for people in their hour of need. There are not many jobs that put you in the thick of society and give you the opportunity to make a real difference.

I was in the first cohort to take part in the new intensive course. It was exhausting both physically and mentally but most of all amazing fun! I loved every minute of it. I loved being part of something really special with a team of different people. We all really gelled and helped each other through. The sergeants that trained us had so much passion and knowledge. I really felt hugely appreciated for giving up my holiday to train and couldn’t be prouder of joining.

Getting my warrant card was such an honour and I was on cloud nine. All the hard work and effort paid off and I could start making a difference to people’s lives.

I felt extremely proud standing in my uniform and being the next generation of specials, and now six years on I can get involved with helping those that come next. Being a special makes me feel proud and accomplished. I am so lucky to have the privilege of working alongside regular officers and the public.

My favourite part of being a special is putting on my uniform, it’s like a different me. I have a real sense of purpose and responsibility. I know that at some point in a shift I will help someone in some way no matter how big or small and that is a huge honour.

I love knowing that I am part of a great team and when I book on it puts another officer on the street. I also love meeting newly joined special constables and helping them through their own journey.

As a special you are able to move and work in different parts of Bedfordshire. We try to cover the areas that need us most and this can take me all over the county. I’m based out of Dunstable covering Leighton Buzzard and Houghton Regis, but I also work out of Luton.

Because I work with response and community sections I attend a wide variety of jobs. These include domestic incidents, road traffic collisions, missing people, shop lifting, assisting other services such as ambulance and fire, helping vulnerable people, assaults and anti-social behaviour.

I also work on wider policing operations such as night time economy, burglary tasking, ANPR and events like football matches, bonfire night and Halloween.

I would like to think I make a positive difference to the Bedfordshire community by adding another police car and officer to the streets, attending jobs during my shift and supporting my colleagues and the public.

Thankfully my family supports my role 100% which makes giving my time very easy. I volunteer and work nights shifts once my other half comes home from his job and takes on the child care. He understands how important it is to me to be able to go out and complete my hours and role.

I have learnt so many skills that I can transfer into my personal life and work commitments in the future. I have been a full-time mum for five years and a special for six so when I am ready to return to work I will never have actually been out of work.

If you are thinking of joining the Special Constabulary my advice would be to throw yourself feet first in to it! You will grow as a person, be part of an incredible team and be filled with a huge sense of pride and achievement. You will respect yourself and gain new levels of empathy and understanding for others. You will test your body and mind in ways other careers can’t. The experience is extremely rewarding and you will benefit from it as well as the community you serve.

Be part of something special.