Metropolitan Police Careers

Lifestyle

Being a police officer is not easy - as much a choice of lifestyle as a job. It is an unpredictable, challenging life that never stops asking questions of your abilities.

First and foremost, the 24-hour nature of policing means that there's no such thing as nine-to-five for a police officer. You will normally be expected to work five eight-hour shifts a week, often at night or over the weekend, although working patterns can vary according to the needs of the Service.

And you can never be sure of what you will experience during your next shift. It could be exhilarating and physically demanding, dangerous and harrowing, mundane and unglamorous, fun and sociable, lonely and repetitive ... you just never know.

What is certain, however, is that it is one of the most rewarding lifestyle choices you can ever make, brimming with opportunities to make a real difference to the lives of the people around you, and have them make a difference to yours.

While you will undoubtedly face many disappointments, you will gradually learn to cope with them and focus on the fact that they are easily outweighed by the successes - the instances when your actions have helped secure an arrest, a conviction, or put a smile on a member of the public's face.