Transferee and re-joiner police officer opportunities

South Wales Police is the largest police force in Wales and although geographically small, covering around 812 square miles and equating to just 10% of the geographical area of Wales, South Wales Police provides a policing service to 1.3 million people (42% of the country’s population).

South Wales is a diverse region, boasting urban, rural and coastal areas and featuring the two largest cities in Wales – Swansea and the capital city, Cardiff. The force also serves 63 of the 100 most deprived communities in Wales.

The force has almost 3000 police officers and over 2200 police staff, including Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and a team of dedicated volunteers that includes over 200 Special Constables and around 200 Police Youth Volunteers. We are committed to developing our staff and providing them with the best support and resources to enable them to effectively support our local communities.

As a force we are investing heavily in the latest technology and the welfare of staff and officers. South Wales Police have been at the heart of many major events - the Champion’s League, NATO and the Olympics are just some of the events that we’ve hosted here in South Wales in recent times.

Join and help us be the best at understanding and responding to our communities’ needs.

When the time for promotion or specialisation is right; you will find SWP a supportive employer and we will provide the opportunity for your aspirations and ability to be recognised.

Our unique Talent Management Programme was launched in 2020, offering additional development routes for exceptional officers.

A career path for police officers exists up to the rank of Chief Superintendent.

We check applications to ensure applicants have passed probation and have correct promotion criteria depending on rank applied for.

We check eligibility in accordance with Home Office circulars in ACPO guidance, e.g. tattoos must be coverable by uniform.

You must not have tattoos on your hands, neck, forearms or face which could cause offence to members of the public or colleagues, or be considered lewd, garish or provocative.

Detectives

For detective roles we also require proof of relevant Pip accreditation:

• CID (PIP II or working towards is essential)
• Public Protection (PIP II or working towards is essential)
• Major Crime (PIP II or working towards is essential)
• Serious and Organised Crime (PIP II is not essential)
• Dedicated source (PIP II is not essential)
• Digital Forensics and cyber crime (PIP II is not essential

Please mark on the application form the role you wish to apply for.

We will score the evidence you have provided of your skills and experience. If successful at this stage you will be invited to attend an interview.

You will be asked to attend an interview where you will have a series of competency based questions. If successful you will be given a conditional offer and invited to attend background checks.

This conditional offer is subject to completion of all required background checks as below.

If successful at interview we will need to carry out security and financial vetting (including a check with your home force Professional Standards department), to the level required for the role. We will also invite you to attend a Medical (and BMI) check, Fitness test, biometric vetting (fingerprints and DNA speculative search) and drugs test. We will try to arrange all the tests for the same day but this cannot be guaranteed as appointments are subject to organisational demand.

To facilitate these background checks we will ask you to complete:

• Security and financial vetting forms
• 2 year PDR’s
• We will ask you to provide your Occupational Health department with a
  consent form for us to access your records.

We will also at this stage be contacting your home force to verify sickness, training, and to confirm your salary/pension.

Once all background checks are complete and home force information has been verified we will send you a final offer of appointment confirming posting, location, training etc.

We will ask you to attend a 3 week induction period on joining – this will cover things like uniform fitting and ID, introduction to Welsh, Diversity training, Officer Safety training, Data Protection training and courses on our systems.

Once your induction is complete we will invite you to attend a re-attestation ceremony.

Unfortunately officers wishing to apply must have successfully completed their 2/3 year probationary period at the appropriate rank or Step 4 of the NPPF process as at the closing date of the application process.

Unfortunately civilian investigators are not sworn police officers and are ineligible to transfer to a Police Officer role, this is despite the fact they may have investigative experience.

Please note that most vacancies are for Eastern Basic Command Unit and certain specialist departments. If you wish to transfer to other locations or roles within South Wales Police, your application may be held pending future vacancies.

• All England and Wales Home Office territorial Police forces.

We are not currently accepting applications from officers serving with:

• The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)
• British Transport Police (BTP)
• The Police Service of Northern Ireland
• Channel Isles, Isle of Man Police
• Ministry of Defence (Mod) Police And Port of Tilbury Constabulary
• National Crime Agency (NCA) – staff with investigative experience but not sworn officers.

We will contact your HR department to verify sickness, PDR, training, salary and pension. Please provide a direct email and telephone number for them.

We would suggest that the rank of Inspector or above would be suitable.

Provided training courses attended are nationally accredited, following national guidelines and there is evidence of competence (i.e. certificate of completion of courses and refreshers) they would be transferrable.

Officers who have Ospre qualifications would need to apply for promotion after appointment when we have a promotion recruitment process open at South Wales Police. You will transfer on your current grade.

If successful we will ask you to attend a medical appointment, which includes an eyesight test. Minimum standard is currently 6/36 unaided vision (without glasses/contact lenses).