Eligibility for staff roles

On this page you can find out the minimum requirements for police staff roles.

Age

The minimum age of recruitment for most staff roles within GMP is 16, unless the position requires shift work, when the minimum age increases to 18.

 

Nationality

Applicants must be either a British Citizen, a citizen of the EU or other states in the EEA, or a Commonwealth citizen or foreign national with indefinite leave to remain in the UK, with no restrictions on your stay in the United Kingdom. Applicants will be expected to provide appropriate documentation to confirm this.

 

Residency

Applicants must have been resident in the UK (including Northern Ireland but not the Republic of Ireland) for the 3 years prior to submitting an application.

If, within this three-year period applicants have been outside the UK for over 12 months we will not be able to accept an application.

The only exceptions to this are for British Military Personnel service abroad (i.e. Army, Navy and Royal Air Force), diplomatic services, or where students are overseas for a twelve-month period as a part of a UK university accredited course (however, satisfactory documentation will be required to support this).

 

Tattoos and piercings

The appearance of police officers, staff, apprentices, special constables and volunteers should be in keeping with our Standards of Professional Behaviour and Uniform and Dress Standards. The nature, location, prominence and appearance of tattoos and/or piercings will be carefully considered in relation to the impression they may give to members of the public or colleagues.

Tattoos
GMP does not allow any tattoo on the face or scalp. Tattoos which could reasonably be interpreted as discriminatory or offensive and/or indicate attitudes or views inconsistent with the Code of Ethics and/or the Standards of Professional Behaviour are also unacceptable.

Tattoos which are considered unacceptable include those which are rude, lewd, crude, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic, intimidating or violent, whether the tattoo(s) is visible or not.

As we don’t allow tattoos which are intimidating or violent this means that tattoos incorporating guns, bladed instruments and/or other weapons are not acceptable. Exceptions to this may include tattoos which are linked to religions, the armed forces or other public services.

When deciding if a tattoo is acceptable, we’ll consider them on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the size, nature, context and prominence of it. We may also seek further information on the meaning of tattoos where this isn’t clear, e.g. a symbol or insignia.

Tattoos on the hand and neck will only be allowed if they are small, discreet and not excessive.

All tattoos, where possible, should be covered at all times. We recognise it may be difficult to cover up tattoos on the hand and neck and a common sense approach should be taken. Suitable GMP uniform is available to cover tattoos on arms, e.g. long sleeved shirts.

Applicants with tattoos are required to submit photographs of any existing tattoos as part of the recruitment process.

 

Piercings
Public Facing Roles - Ear lobes that have been stretched are not acceptable.

No visible body piercing jewellery can be worn on duty, other than on religious grounds, and where it is considered that there is no significant risk to the individual’s health and safety.

Non-Public Facing Roles - Except in the case of cultural/religious observance, visible body piercing, other than earrings are not generally acceptable in the workplace. We will consider the possibility of the piercing(s) adversely impacting on the individual's duties and/or the image of the force before exercising discretion on this issue.
If piercings are worn, we will always consider the nature of work undertaken and any associated risks from the piercing.

 

Membership of BNP or similar

The Police Regulations 2003 prohibit any of their staff from becoming members of organisations whose aims and objectives may contradict the duty to promote race equality (including the British National Party (BNP), Combat 18, National Front or similar).

 

Financial position

Police staff are in a privileged position with regard to access to information and could be considered potentially vulnerable to corruption. Applicants should not therefore be under pressure from un-discharged debts or liabilities and should be able to manage loans and debts sensibly.

Applicants who have existing County Court Judgments (CCJs) or who have been registered bankrupt and their bankruptcy debts have not been discharged will not be considered.

Applicants who have discharged CCJs may be considered. Applicants who have been registered bankrupt and their bankruptcy debts have been discharged will only be considered after 3 years from the discharge of the debt.

Where financial checks reveal that applicants have defaulted credit accounts, it is our policy not to proceed with the application until the defaults have been satisfied.

 

Criminal records

Applicants who have been convicted or cautioned, depending on the nature and circumstances of the offence, may still be eligible for appointment.

However, GMP will not recruit people with cautions or convictions which may call into question the integrity of the applicant or the Police Service. Certain convictions will preclude individuals from becoming a member of staff in GMP.

An applicant must declare on his/her application form all convictions for any past offences, formal cautions by the police (including cautions/reprimands as a juvenile, i.e. under 18 years) and any bind-overs imposed by any court.

Applicants should include traffic convictions such as speeding, drink-drive offences, fixed penalties for motoring or disorder offences and any appearances before a court martial.

Applicants must also declare any charges or summons currently outstanding against and spent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 or any involvement with civil, military or transport police.

An applicant must declare if he/she has ever been involved in any criminal investigation whether or not this led to prosecution (either of themselves or others).

Failure to disclose details will result in an application being rejected, and if appointed, may lead to dismissal.

 

Security and vetting procedures

Before recruiting anyone to work in GMP, thorough checks must be undertaken to ascertain whether anything is known to the detriment of that applicant, his/her spouse or partner, or close relatives such as parents, in-laws, siblings or others living or associating with the applicant.

All applicants will have to complete detailed vetting forms to enable these checks to be made.

We will also check whether any close family or associates are involved in criminal activity and we will therefore search for any criminal convictions or cautions recorded against an applicant's family. Applicants must advise people that these enquiries will be made. GMP cannot disclose the results of these enquiries.

Our enquiries will reveal incidents from long ago, and failure to disclose these will lead to an applicant's application being rejected.

GMP will not recruit people with cautions or convictions which may call into question the integrity of the applicant or the Police Service.

Applicants who have been convicted or cautioned may still be eligible for appointment, depending on the nature and circumstances of the offence against them.

There may be circumstances where an individual does not fall within the criteria, but whose suspected involvement in crime, or criminal association make an offer of employment inappropriate.

In addition, applicants for some roles will be required to provide fingerprints and DNA samples, which will be used to speculatively search against local and national databases prior to appointment.

This is to ensure that applicants have not previously come to adverse police attention and are not linked to any outstanding crime scenes.

 

Business interests and other potential conflicts

You are required to declare any business interests and the extent of your involvement, which you intend to continue should you be successful in applying for the role.

However, the chief constable reserves the right to reject an applicant at any stage of the recruitment process without disclosing the reasons for rejection.

 

Qualifications

Any formal educational and/or qualification requirements will be clearly stated in the advert and person specification for each role.

 

Live disciplinary warnings in employment

Applicants who have received a disciplinary warning within the previous 12 months may not be able to apply, including those asked to resign from employment.

 

Previous applications to GMP

You will not be eligible to re-apply for the same or a similar role in GMP if you have previously been unsuccessful at the assessment stage in the last six months.

 

Health and fitness

You must be in a position to cope with the physical and mental demands of being a member of police staff and carry out your duties effectively.

Successful applicants will be asked to complete a health assessment questionnaire, and where appropriate have a medical assessment. Applicants for some positions may need to undertake additional tests such as hearing and eyesight.