Chaman Aslam

Before I joined the police, I worked at Luton Airport for 18 years as a Team Leader managing my team to ensure a busy day of flights went out on time and the arrival flights were met on time. I sorted out any issues like dealing with drunk passengers and delayed flights.

I joined the PCSO role in March 2020. I wanted a new challenge and joining the police is something I have always had an interest in. I was really attracted to the variety and that every day is different.

My people skills and experiences from dealing with passengers and the different situations I came across has really help me in my current role. It assists me with helping people and understanding everyone’s personal situations, how their actions affect different people in different ways. I’m a people person and having strong communication skills and experience with dealing with a diverse range of people has helped me in my policing role. It gives me great achievement knowing I have made a difference in someone’s life.

Being a PCSO has had a huge impact in my personal life. I am happy at work which makes me happy at home and gives me inner peace. My job has brought back the excitement and buzz in my working life.

I love talking to people and getting to know the areas I cover and people that live there on a personal level. I spend a lot of time dealing with anti-social behaviour issues as well as neighbour disputes. Knowing I have dealt with the issues and eliminated the problem gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I also love working with partner agencies and doing reassurance visits. Our long-term problem-solving approach gives me great satisfaction. We don’t work towards a short-term fix, but rather we are making a difference to someone’s with life long term, positive effect.

I do not have a favourite moment so far in my role because I enjoy every aspect of the job and the huge variety of different situations it brings and meeting different people every day. The immense gratitude people show when I have helped them is what makes this role very enjoyable.

In the community policing teams at Bedfordshire Police, PCSOs work with a police officer. The best thing about working alongside a PC is that both roles are very different and you bounce off one another and work together to deal with cases in your area. They have different skills and powers to PCSOs which helps deal with the varied situations we come across.

Every day is a learning curve in one way or another, be that with the people I come across or the situations I have to deal with. Even after a tough day it does not stop me from coming back the following day as I know every day is different. I have a great team from my inspector and sergeants to my colleagues and everyone is always willing to help. I am never left alone to struggle. My sergeant is always to hand to offer advice and help.

I believe the essential qualities to be a PCSO are having excellent communication skills, listening skills, empathy, ability to prioritise issues and being able problem solve. As well as having the drive and ability to help people.

I didn’t know how passionate I was until I joined the police. Anyone thinking of applying, my advice would be if you want to make a difference to someone’s life and help people then definitely apply.

‘If you have the drive to thrive then go for it’