Having been teaching Hertfordshire police applicants today, it seems that herts police recruitment evenings are allegedly back telling people it is not worth doing a course, as they, the police, will tell you everything we do. At the same time, they are also showing  a reading list with my book on it, which seems a bit strange, but still. There is also the fact that herts police have actually paid to use exercises written by us in the past. Below I have pasted a  blog article from 2010 regarding forces saying this, and I promise you the argument still holds true.

Here is an update on what we have heard re North Wales Police applications and assessments:

2 days ago the force open recruitment for internal staff with a closing date of 30th November. There is currently a countdown marker on NWP website until this coming Monday (21st November), where recruitment will be extended to members of the public with a closing date of December 5th. The assessments for applicants who are successful with the application form will we hear start week commencing 16th January2012 at a centre in Coventry (which will probably be Ryton).

To accommodate this, we have puta course on our site for Mold, near Chester for early January 2012. We have also put extra copies of our book on Amazons shelves, as they got down to one or two copies recently.

In answer to the South Wales assessments due in Jan 2012 we will be running a course at the St.Mellons hotel in Cardiff on Dec 3rd. We always get a good turnout for the welsh forces. Last time we were there, we had about forty or fifty people who we trained in the end. I imagine we will do the same this time around. I understand that this time the job will be inviting many internal people. yet again, this is another example of in an environment where everyone is from a similar background, how do you differentiate yourself? Being a PCSO or specila will not be any advantage, as everyone else at the assessment centre will be too.

In Lancashire last month, we trained up about thirty people, and would expect that of those, at least 25 pass. That may be even more however this time around, as one needs to be in mind that the people invited to assessment tend to be of a higher quality than normal by definition of the fact they are already in the job.

We have set up two  courses aimed at the above in Mid October. I am always asked by those already connected with the job “Why should we come ona  course as we are already connected with the police?”. This misses the point though. The idea of any kind of preparation course is to give you an advantage in terms of preparation for the assessment. As the Lancs assessment is like the Mets at the moment, in the context of only existing specials, CSO’s and police staff being allowed to apply, how are you going to stand out above everyone else. Everyone else in your assessment group will also be a special, cso or police staff. They will have the same experience as you, the same background, and probably be of a similar age and experience. What makes you different from them? But they cannot all get through. So how do you ensure you stand out? Make a mistake this time and you will be lucky to have another go for a good few years, and even then you will be facing all the other specials etc as well. This is why you should think about our course.  Being a good special will not be enough, nor will being a supervisor. If it was. you would not know loads of people who failed to get in last time, and you do, don’t you?

Taken from an extract from The Guardian Online from 29/11/10.Please visit their website for the full story. This happens in many forces, which is why you need to do a course!

A 

Grahame Maxwell, who heads the North Yorkshire force, will be accused of gross misconduct, while his deputy, Adam Briggs, faces a straight misconduct charge over claims that friends or family of existing staff were favoured to fill a handful of jobs.

Both men are expected to deny the charges, with those against Maxwell the first to be levelled against a chief constable in the UK for 35 years.

Two other members of the force have been dismissed for nepotism, while a constable has been given a final written warning in connection with the affair.

The moves follow an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into allegations following the recruitment drive, which took place last winter.

More than 300,000 people applied for 60 jobs in the force, and the jobs line set up to cope with applications repeatedly crashed.

The IPCC worked with North Yorkshire police authority’s professional standards subcommittee, which made the recommendation for the two misconduct hearings.

The commission said the two senior officers were accused of working with staff under their line management to “circumvent the recruitment process”.

“The IPCC will not be in a position to publish its findings from the investigations until all misconduct matters are concluded,” a spokesman said.

North Yorkshire police said: “The individuals in question have a right of appeal. For that reason, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this time.”

The joint report is understood to contain evidence that the chief constable and his deputy misused their influence in the appointment process to give priority to a relative or relatives of Maxwell.

When the inquiry was announced in March, the IPCC commisioner, Nicholas Long, called the allegations a matter of “extreme concern.”

In a statement at the time, the IPCC said: “It is alleged the chief constable, Grahame Maxwell, gave assistance to one of his own relatives and a relative of Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs. It is also alleged DCC Briggs gave assistance to that same relative.

“Additionally, and separately, two police staff members are alleged to have used their positions to circumvent the initial phase to benefit themselves and one other person.”

The inquiry was led by Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, of Staffordshire police. The North Yorkshire assistant chief constable, Sue Cross, said at the time: “Our principal concern is to reassure applicants and the communities we serve that our recruitment process is fair and transparent.

“To that end, North Yorkshire police is currently conducting a very thorough integrity assurance exercise and co-operating fully with the IPCC.”

police chief and his deputy are to face serious misconduct charges following an independent report into alleged nepotism during a botched recruitment exercise. 

A police chief and his deputy are to face serious misconduct charges following an independent report into alleged nepotism during a botched recruitment exercise.

Grahame Maxwell, who heads the North Yorkshire force, will be accused of gross misconduct, while his deputy, Adam Briggs, faces a straight misconduct charge over claims that friends or family of existing staff were favoured to fill a handful of jobs.

Both men are expected to deny the charges, with those against Maxwell the first to be levelled against a chief constable in the UK for 35 years.

Two other members of the force have been dismissed for nepotism, while a constable has been given a final written warning in connection with the affair.

The moves follow an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into allegations following the recruitment drive, which took place last winter.

More than 300,000 people applied for 60 jobs in the force, and the jobs line set up to cope with applications repeatedly crashed.

The IPCC worked with North Yorkshire police authority’s professional standards subcommittee, which made the recommendation for the two misconduct hearings.

The commission said the two senior officers were accused of working with staff under their line management to “circumvent the recruitment process”.

“The IPCC will not be in a position to publish its findings from the investigations until all misconduct matters are concluded,” a spokesman said.

North Yorkshire police said: “The individuals in question have a right of appeal. For that reason, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this time.”

The joint report is understood to contain evidence that the chief constable and his deputy misused their influence in the appointment process to give priority to a relative or relatives of Maxwell.

When the inquiry was announced in March, the IPCC commisioner, Nicholas Long, called the allegations a matter of “extreme concern.”

In a statement at the time, the IPCC said: “It is alleged the chief constable, Grahame Maxwell, gave assistance to one of his own relatives and a relative of Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs. It is also alleged DCC Briggs gave assistance to that same relative.

“Additionally, and separately, two police staff members are alleged to have used their positions to circumvent the initial phase to benefit themselves and one other person.”

The inquiry was led by Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, of Staffordshire police. The North Yorkshire assistant chief constable, Sue Cross, said at the time: “Our principal concern is to reassure applicants and the communities we serve that our recruitment process is fair and transparent.

“To that end, North Yorkshire police is currently conducting a very thorough integrity assurance exercise and co-operating fully with the IPCC.”