“I didn’t want to be known as a hobby bobby – I wanted to do what police officers did…”

I joined the Specials because I’d always wanted to join the police service and I thought I’d give it a go. I was initially only going to do it for a year, and ended up staying and making it into my 25th year.

When I joined the Specials, we were just coming out of the ‘hobby bobby’ era, so we were just breaking away from fetes and carnivals. I was part of the first generation of new Specials who started to push barriers; I didn’t want to be known as a hobby bobby – I wanted to do what police officers did.

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Football Bother? Tracey’s On the Spot!

Special Constable Tracey Bateman volunteers in our Football Policing Unit as a Football Spotter and gives us an insight into a typical day on duty…

It is 9.30am on Saturday 24 October and I am on my way to Luton Police Station for a briefing. Luton Town FC have a game this afternoon against Plymouth Argyle and my role as a spotter is to keep the home and away supporters apart where possible, and to identify any high risk fans who might cause trouble and ruin the game for other football fans who have come along to enjoy the match. 

From Police Cadet to Special Constable

This month we are marking the contribution of our Special Constables. Tristan Webb, a former Cadet and future Special Constable tells us about his time with the force and how, even though he has left the Cadets, he hopes to continue to make a difference in his community…

I’ve always wanted to join the police since I was knee high. The dream had always stayed with me and joining the Bedfordshire’s Police Cadets brought me one step closer.

My mum actually told me the Cadets and I signed up as soon as I could at 16, and it was a fantastic decision.

The Cadets meet every week to learn about the police, and often we would get talks from specific departments from across the force, which gave a valuable insight into all the different things that the police do. We also learned some of the skills needed in front line policing, including about legislation, how to interview someone, and what to do on arrival at a crime scene.