Civil Nuclear Constabulary

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keeperhadfield

New Member
Hello

I am new to this website and found out about it when searching for information on the internet about different Police Forces. I currently work in Security for a UK Police Force but want to make the next step and try to become a cop. I was alerted to the CNC recruiting in several locations throughout the UK and have put an application in with Heysham as my first choice. I have a 50% pass in the SEARCH assessment centre which is valid for 12 months and have attached this to my application, which would apparently mean i bypass the CNC recruitment phase and go straight to fitness, medical and a firearms brief. I was just wondering whether anyone could offer me any advice on the CNC and whether it is a job worth doing? Would it look good on my CV down the line if I decided to apply for a home office force? How rigorous is the training? (both the law side of things and the firearms). Do you feel looked after by the force and is the pay good after so many years/ good annual leave etc? Basically a view of someone with experience or who knows someone who served with them would be much appreciated
:-)

Cheers
 
Don't join CNC if you want to transfer to a Home Office force because they don't except transfers from special forces like CNC. It is completely different work and CNC has almost no resemblance to regular policing. You will basically be a security guard with a gun doing patrols of the wire. CNC officers only have a very limited jurisdiction (the nuclear power station and a small radius of the site) You will have no experience of actually policing the general public and dealing with crime so if you wanted to join a home office force later in life you would have to join as a student officer again.
Some people prefer the CNC style of work; no crap to deal with, lots of OT, regular finish times but do your research and make sure you know what your getting in to.

Have a look in to MDP too (Ministry of Defence Police) again you can't transfer out to most forces but there is more career opportunities; OSU, TSG and special escort group for example. Since a recent review in to pay and conditions the starting salary of MDP is awful but you will pay much less pension contribution then that a home office force.
 
Thanks for that :-). Yeah I have spoke to a few cops at my workplace and they kinda ridicule the CNC saying it is for "fat cops who can't be ars*d being a proper cop" lol so I can see maybe they don't get much respect, I dunno. Apparently the starting salary for CNC is 23k and goes to 25k after training? If so this sounds quite decent, but the nearest base to me in Heysham which I put as my first choice and this is 70 miles away so dunno if it would be worth the travelling? It would be interesting to know how difficult the training is... obviously it aint gonna be easy because it is a responsible job but I wonder how it compares to a Home Office Police force? Basically I am looking possibly for a new challenge - the job I have now is secure enough touch wood (been here over 5 years),it is pretty straightforward and there is no real pressure, there is overtime and good annual leave and it is 7 miles down the road from my house - do you think the CNC is worth giving all this up for?

Thanks for your time.
 
Personally I wouldn't take any notice of the respect aspect of it, it just depends what you want to do.
Your correct on the starting/training salary, it's a fairly good rate as they have avoided Winsor review alterations to pay scales.
The pension is subject to review at the moment but currently stands at 5% contribution and is the UKAEA scheme. When compared to Home Office contributions of between 9-12%.

I can't speak of the training as I have no personal experience but like you I was an applicant at one stage; I had an application in for Sellafield and then transferred to Heysham but later withdrew my application as I became sure CNC wasn't for me. I applied out of sheer desperation to join the police as at the time it was at the height of the recession and police recruitment freezes.
I would expect the training to be more physically demanding then HO training courses as the fitness levels are higher and I'm sure the firearms assessments aren't exactly a walk in the park.
One thing I'd recommend you do is have a drive up to Heysham; I recently boarded a ferry from the ferry terminal opposite the site and I have to say it is one of the most depressing and grim places I have ever been. Have a drive about and see if you could see yourself working there doing patrols...I personally couldn't. I'm starting with the Met this year and I certainly feel confident I've made the right decision.

Ultimately it really comes down to; do you want to do armed security or be a police officer? Both jobs have the same name and similar uniform but are worlds apart.
 
keeperhadfield said:
Thanks for that :-). Yeah I have spoke to a few cops at my workplace and they kinda ridicule the CNC saying it is for "fat cops who can't be ars*d being a proper cop" lol so I can see maybe they don't get much respect, I dunno. Apparently the starting salary for CNC is 23k and goes to 25k after training? If so this sounds quite decent, but the nearest base to me in Heysham which I put as my first choice and this is 70 miles away so dunno if it would be worth the travelling? It would be interesting to know how difficult the training is... obviously it aint gonna be easy because it is a responsible job but I wonder how it compares to a Home Office Police force? Basically I am looking possibly for a new challenge - the job I have now is secure enough touch wood (been here over 5 years),it is pretty straightforward and there is no real pressure, there is overtime and good annual leave and it is 7 miles down the road from my house - do you think the CNC is worth giving all this up for?

Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...

I am in a similar position you are in. I have a application in with the cnc at the moment and waiting for assessment centre date. I have tried apply before but failed at a assessment centre before I have done alot of research on regular police force and the cnc, mod
To keeper what did you decided to do.
Does anyone have any more info.
 
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