“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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“I thought I’d never be able to fulfil this dream…”

I wanted to be involved with the police from a young age – my uncle was a police driver in Northumbria and often when we visited he’d show us the police cars which I found really exciting.

As I went through school I got involved with sports coaching, and on the recommendation of one of my teachers I moved into teaching. I qualified in 1996 and started work straight away. I began my career, and gradually moved my way up to a point where starting a new career would have been difficult.

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.