Careers
1. Background checks
Background checks are carried out to identify the most appropriate people to join Greater Manchester Police. The process, also known as vetting, is straightforward in most cases and designed to ensure public safety while also protecting applicants, our employees and the force.
Everyone in the police service must maintain high standards in terms of how they behave. Our background checks:
- Ensure applicants meet our standards and are likely to continue to do so
- Reassure the public that our police officers are appropriate to be in positions of trust
- Identify any issues that could impact on the public’s confidence of Greater Manchester Police.
All checks carried out comply with national guidelines and codes of practice.
The vetting requirement applies to employed staff, volunteers and other non-police personnel who are engaged in support of Greater Manchester Police or who work in associated partnerships, categories include:
- police officers
- police staff
- police community support officers
- special constables
- volunteers
- contractors
- temporary or agency staff
- partner agencies.
The extent to which vetting is undertaken is balanced against the level of access required to police premises, sensitive information and computer systems. This is necessary to achieve safeguards required within the Human Rights and Data Protection legislation. Information provided during the vetting process will be processed in strict confidence and will only be used for vetting purposes. Completed questionnaires will be retained securely within the Force Vetting Unit.
You will be asked to complete an online form and provide information to confirm your identity and where you live. Additional information may be requested for some roles.
If you are applying for a police staff, police officer or special constable role you will also be required to provide full details for the following that apply:
- parents
- children over the age of 10 years
- brothers or sisters
- husband or wife, or partner
- house mates or lodgers
- anybody you know that’s involved in criminal activities or has a conviction or caution
Details provided will be checked against criminal, intelligence and national security records, along with public records and credit reference agencies. Social media checks will also be carried out.
Possibly. Each case is considered on an individual basis according to the role being applied for.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions) Order 1975 applies to all police staff posts and non-police personnel roles. This means that protected convictions or protected cautions do not need to be disclosed, and if they are, they are not considered as part of the process if considered not relevant. The Act does not apply to police officer posts.
Applications for police officer, special constable and police staff positions will always be rejected in cases where offences committed resulted in a prison sentence, the applicant is a registered sex offender or subject to a registration requirement.
Financial checks aim to establish if a person is currently in financial difficulty or has been in the past, as this could result in them being vulnerable to bribery.
Mortgage and credit card commitments in line with your income are fine if you are meeting payments, etc. Debts are only a problem if they are substantial and applicants have failed to take action to resolve the situation or the debt is caused by compulsive behaviour such as gambling.
Applications are likely to be rejected in cases where:
- an existing county court judgement is outstanding
- the individual has been registered bankrupt and not discharged the bankruptcy
- the bankruptcy discharge was less than three years ago.
- there has been a Debt Relief Order (these are treated in the same way as bankruptcy).
Providing false or misleading information, or keeping information a secret, could make you look unreliable or dishonest. This could result in your application being refused, even if the information you failed to provide might not have actually caused a problem. The same applies if facts come to light at a later date.
Providing accurate, detailed information upfront will help make the process more straight-forward. Tips include:
- ensure maiden names, dates of birth and addresses are provided for everybody listed on your form
- if there’s certain information you can’t provide, outline why
- ensure all County Court Judgements are satisfied (if applicable)
- have up-to-date Individual Voluntary Arrangement documents (if applicable)
- declare any previous contact with the police i.e. arrests, reprimands, warnings, cautions, convictions
- Check your email regularly (including junk/spam folder) for any response or request for further information