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We are currently accepting expressions of interest for the role of Police Enquiry Officers. Submit your expression of interest here.
When someone needs a reassuring face to put them at ease, Police Enquiry Officers are there to help.
Our Front Counter teams are the first face to face contact when visiting police stations and are there ready to deal with anything that walks through the door. This can range from taking a report of a missing person, supporting someone during a mental health crisis, or helping a victim of domestic abuse. Police Enquiry Officers play a vital role in keeping our communities safe, protecting the most vulnerable and preventing harm.
As you will be providing face to face assistance to members of the public, you’ll be a comforting presence in people’s hour of need. Asking the right questions, listening for vital details and recording information will all be a part of your day-to-day role.
If you’re ready to leave the boring 9 to 5 behind, the role of Police Enquiry Officer could be just what you’re looking for. You will deal with urgent incidents that require police attendance, reports of crime that need recording, and a multitude of queries that need resolving or advising. In return, we promise you a good starting salary, great training experiences, opportunities for progression and the pride that comes from helping others.
A typical shift looks like this:
During the day you’ll deal with a mixture of queries, reports, requests and visitors. Demand varies by the time of day and day of the week. Factors such as weather, traffic accidents, national or local events can all have an influence on the number of people who attend the front counter. With the training we provide you’ll be empowered to risk assess and prioritise each incident, ensuring an appropriate response. With each interaction you’ll need to be able to remain calm and in control even in situations where the visitor could be angry and/or upset, gathering as much information as possible by asking the right questions. The information you gather will need to be recorded accurately into our systems and transferred to those responding.
Please note that Police Enquiry officers based at Guildford, Reigate, Woking and Staines will be employed on a mobile contract, meaning you will have a base station, but will be required to work across all stations when needed and sometimes at short notice. Police Enquiry Officers based at Epsom or Esher will only work at that location.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
To apply for the role you will need to meet our eligibility criteria:
When you join Surrey Police, you can expect a career with variety, diversity, challenges, rewards and great learning experiences. This is a vital role which matters to the public, but it also matters to us. As such, we will give you:
A starting salary of £26,424 if based at one of our main sites (Guildford, Woking, Reigate or Staines), rising annually. This is inclusive of a shift allowance of £1,610 per year.
180 hours per year annual leave, rising to 209 hours depending on your length of service.
Read more about what you can expect from us as an employer.
The initial training course is seven weeks classroom-based training. During this time students undertake a number of IT courses, receive a range of inputs including Law and Public Protection. You will then join your designated front counter working the shift pattern with the guidance of an experienced coach until you are ready to work independently.
Starting your career in our Police Counters will provide you with a wide range of skills and experiences. There are also opportunities for development, such as becoming a coach, or additional training on certain topics enabling you to act as a point of contact to other team members.
Stage one: Quick Apply
There’ll be a short form to complete with your personal details and check boxes to ensure all eligibility criteria have been met. Along with this you’ll be asked to upload a copy of your CV to include employment history and education.
Stage two: Online Assessment
We will send you an online assessment to complete which will measure your communication skills and typing speed. Due to the time critical nature of the role we look for a minimum of 30 WPM (Words Per Minute.) There are many free online typing tests that will allow you to gain practice or gain an indication of your current speed. These tests are sent to you via email and once it is completed you will be able to return it to us for review.
Stage three: Online force interview
On successful completion of the exercise we will invite you to an interview conducted by a panel of Surrey Police representatives. These are currently being conducted online via Zoom. This interview will be based upon the Competency and Values Framework (CFV).
Stage four: Pre-employment checks
These consist of a medical questionnaire and vetting checks.
Our ability to build trust, understand problems and support our communities across a range of policing matters, relies on us having a workforce that is reflective of our communities and all the unique individuals that exist within them. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity within our workforce and to eliminating discrimination.
We are very keen to encourage applications from those that have never considered policing as a career. Representation within our workforce from black and minority ethnic communities is currently much lower than we want it to be; by improving this we will be better able to serve our local communities and our work place will benefit from all the differences in thinking, points of view, and approaches that diversity brings.
We are actively working on a range of activities to improve this and one of the proactive ways we are seeking to increase representation is via a bespoke mentoring scheme which is aimed at guiding applicants from diverse communities through the recruitment process.
For more information email [email protected]
To join Surrey Police in any role you will need to prove your right to work in the UK.
Do I have right to work in the UK?
Your right to work in the UK depends on your immigration status - this is also called your ‘leave’. If you don’t have the right to work, you might be able to apply for it.
You automatically have the right to work in the UK if:
You might have a right to work in the UK if you have a visa with a time limit. This is called having 'limited leave to enter or remain’.
If you entered the UK illegally or your leave has ended, you don’t have the right to work in the UK.
Proving your right to work in the UK
You might be able to prove your right to work online or by showing your employer certain documents. Any document you show your employer must be:
For further information about Right to work in the UK, please refer to the GOV.UK webpages.