Observer Scheme

The Community Observer Scheme doesn’t provide work experience.

Join us on patrol and see how we help make communities safer.

This scheme was created initially created following a recommendation from the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme. It enables members of the public to gain an insight into how our officers consider and apply their use of stop and search powers, however, we see it as offering something much broader than just seeing the use of these powers.

We encourage anybody who is interested in understanding the role of a police officer to apply. The scheme is a fantastic way for you to experience operational policing and helps us build trust and confidence with our communities. We'll show you how we police by consent and take the opportunity to learn from your experiences, too.

We aim to respond to your request with an offer of a date within 2-4 weeks of receiving the request. Please note that any email communication from us may arrive in your spam folder, so please check this as well as your main inbox.

Your observer shift is likely to happen within 1-2 months of the offer email, although this is likely to take longer, during periods of high demand.

Due to unprecedented demand on the scheme we will only be able to offer 1 attachment per applicant.

Eligibility

You'll need to be aged 18 years or older.

Apply

To join us on the scheme, please complete and submit our ride along application form.

Contact us

For more information, please email [email protected].