Passion for Policing
Since becoming a special constable while at university, policing has been Katie’s passion. Now a vetting officer for the Met – as well as being a single mum of three – she and hundreds of her civilian colleagues have been striking over a forced increase to the number of days working in the office, which she says has turned her world “upside down”.
What does your job involve?
My team carries out desk-based vetting checks for police officers and other staff who apply to join the Met Police. That means researching their professional and private life, financial affairs, known associates and employment history, then advising on whether they’re suitable to be employed.
How and why did you get into it?
I did a public services course as a teenager, then a degree in police studies. In my first term, an officer from Kent Police came in and asked if we wanted to volunteer as special constables. I signed up and did that for a decade. After uni, I joined the control room at Kent Police and combined that with being a special.
I loved being in the sea cadets as a child – I think I was attracted to the disciplined environment, and later also with the justice aspect of the police service. Having been diagnosed in my 30s with autism and ADHD, I realise now that I craved and enjoyed that structure.
I only stopped being a special constable because I was starting IVF. I had some rough and tumble with a suspect who was carrying a knife and I thought, ‘You know what? I want to start a family; I don’t think I want to deal with nine-inch knives anymore’.
When my twins were babies – who are both neurodivergent as well – I left the control room and later joined the Met in 2022.
What are the good points to it?
I love the job. Each case is different. So although the processes are the same – which is good for me as I need a certain amount of routine and repetition – each day is so varied. And we have a really decent team. Everyone was happy, and now that’s just broken down with this current issue, which is horrid.
Why have you and Met colleagues been on strike?
We had an agreement to work from home three days a week and in the office for two. Now they’re trying to force us to do three in the office and two at home. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it somehow turns your world upside down.
Why is it important to keep the hybrid agreement?
With two office days, it wasn’t easy, but I pushed myself to the limit to do it. Our team was consistently getting above our targets. Now they’ve killed it with this edict.
My first week back with the new schedule (which we’re doing under protest) was horrendous. With more colleagues in the office now, we’re split into smaller teams, sometimes on different floors. When separated from the main department you lose collaboration and can feel isolated.
The point of the leaders enforcing this, they say, was supposedly to be more collaborative!
Many staff, including myself, joined the Met with a blended working agreement in place. You build your life around that. It is especially diffcult for staff with caring responsibilities, single parents, disabled staff and those living far away who accepted the job as advertised. For me, it’s a long commute and there’s no parking available for most ordinary staff.
For my colleagues and me, it’s not just about the hybrid working, it’s the bigger picture of changing our agreed terms and conditions with no thought for our lives or even prior consultation. The concern is, if this can be removed with zero negotiation with PCS, what’s next? It leaves some people questioning their confidence and trust in the employer. We do not need to be sat in offices to be productive.
What happens now?
There’s another strike over this issue – hundreds of our civilian colleagues in Crime Intelligence are taking action for two weeks until 28 March.