Potential new recruits cop a load of what Police Scotland can do at showcase

Police Scotland opened its doors to the public for the first time on Saturday in a behind-the-scenes recruitment showcase event in East Kilbride.

The family-friendly event took place at their recruitment and training centre in Jackton and attracted more than 2500 people.

Locals interested in joining the force got the chance to speak with serving police officers, staff, forensics teams and special constables, see demonstrations from the dog unit, mounted branch, dive and marine unit, air support unit, road policing, public order and armed policing specialists.

There was also a mock fitness assessment – including the famous bleep test – and a force helicopter landed at the college helipad.

Police Scotland Recruitment Chief Inspector, Alan Mulholland said: “Our recruitment showcase event was held on Saturday which was the first time Police Scotland welcomed members of the public into our Recruitment and Training Centre at Jackton.

“The event enabled over 2500 members of the public to gain access to the people and departments who support the recruitment journey and meet the real people behind the uniforms.

“The theme of the event was on recruitment with an insight provided by many of our internal specialist services on how they support and help protect our local police officers who do a unique job every day as they help people within the communities we serve.

“We need those applying to become police officers to know that we have lots of operational support and a multitude of internal opportunities available to them and where officers need to call on a specialist resource, they can depending on the situation they are dealing with.

“It’s not about joining and thinking you are automatically able to move to a specialism such as road policing. It is however, about moving forward in the organisation with those aspirations to develop, whether that be laterally or in promoted positions although this all comes with experience and people applying themselves to achieve their own personal goals. “

There were briefing sessions on Police Scotland’s 16 week probationer training programme and what can be expected whilst completing training alongside a look in to the recruitment process and what happens after an application is made through the eRecruitment system.

CI Mulholland added: “We are currently recruiting for police officer, volunteer and staff roles and I would encourage and support anyone looking for ‘a job like no other’ to apply.”

Police Scotland is looking to recruit people who live and work by its core values of integrity, fairness and respect and have a commitment to public service. In this role, you will build lasting relationships with colleagues and the people who live and work in the area you are based in.

In joining the force you will become part of a 200-year long history of policing in Scotland, joining a team of over 16,600 officers and 23,000 staff in total dedicated to keeping people safe.

To apply log on to the Police Scotland Recruitment site and find out more about the selection process here.

*Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.

And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.