college.police.uk A career pathway in response policing Response policing What roles are available in response policing? Response policing is the term widely used to describe the teams of Roles in response policing are constable, sergeant and inspector. police officers that respond to emergency and non-emergency calls There are lateral development opportunities too, with many receiving from members of the public. Response policing teams are made up of training in method of entry tactics and training to be part of a police constables and a sergeant with a response inspector overseeing them. support unit (PSU) dealing with crowd control and public order. By enhancing these skill sets, officers are able not only to do more as a What do response officers do? response officer, but also to work in other areas of the force, such as policing football games. Response officers are also likely to train to Response officers are at the heart of uniformed policing and will hold qualifications in police driving and Taser. Each response officer often be the first police officer many members of the public come will have a unique set of skills that will make them an asset for their in to contact with. While responding to incidents is their primary team and may also help them branch out into other areas of policing. role, in doing this they will also protect the public, proactively patrol their communities, manage critical incidents, communicate with Those in the sergeant and inspector ranks will often be the first vulnerable people, apply conflict management techniques, give supervisors at critical and major incidents, often overseeing complex emergency first aid and much more. The response officer needs to and dynamic situations. In some forces, inspectors will often be the be omni-competent in a range of skills and must keep up to date most senior officers on duty and will be constantly reviewing the with changes in the law and policing. demand on their resources, deploying officers effectively and making use of their powers in law, such as granting extra search powers. One of the most important aspects of the response officer role is adhering to the ‘golden hour’ principles at the start of an investigation. In this initial hour of a crime taking place, the actions of the response officer are key, as they will be responsible for preserving life and evidence, as well as identifying the victims, suspects and witnesses. A career pathway in response policing 1 What are the progression opportunities? It is likely that every police officer will be a response officer in their career and many will return to response policing between roles. Therefore, the opportunities for progression are endless. Those seeking promotion will often undertake the duties of a response sergeant, as many of the skills needed for progression into specialist areas start in the response policing world. Response officers can progress within the role and gain lots of skills throughout their career, or they may choose to specialise in other areas of uniformed policing. However, due to the strong investigation skills needed in response policing, a career as an investigator is also a likely possibility. Exploring response policing further The diagram on the next page shows how you may develop in response policing as a constable. As you can see, it is likely that both new recruits and experienced officers will be drawn to response policing. The opportunities to develop and ‘bolt on’ skills and qualifications are also shown. If you are looking at progressing through the ranks, you should look at the National Police Promotions Framework (NPPF) information. It may not be possible to progress through the ranks within a particular job family, as forces may assign newly promoted individuals or those in acting posts, in line with organisational need. 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