 Hello and welcome to the Queensland Police Service Recruiting Seminar. My name is Constable Letitia Waylon. And I'm Senior Constable Ben Wilson. We're here today to take you through the steps of a police recruiting journey. The examples that we will give you today and the videos you will see are of personal experiences of real police officers. The information is given as a guide and everyone's recruiting story is always unique. The Queensland Police Service is committed to recruiting members of the community who can help us achieve our vision of Queensland, the safer state. The purpose of the service is that together we prevent, disrupt, respond and investigate. Hi, my name is Alicia Finnegan. I'm a Sergeant of Police. I currently work as a fingerprint expert for the Gold Coast Region. I joined the Queensland Police Service in 2006. I was 31 years old at the time. I did three years at Surfers Paradise and then I got on the since current course, which took about three to four months. Once that's finished, I became a senior crime officer on probation for 12 months. While attending most of the scenes, I'm working in conjunction with other specialized areas such as ballistic, scientific, I became really interested in fingerprints and the science behind fingerprints. I put in an application when I saw that they were asking for applicants that took about eight or nine months before I got shortlisted. We do four years of intense course and on-the-job training as well as knowledge-based and book-based training. That incorporated attending major scenes. In the lab, you do things such as chemical enhancements using different chemicals on different surfaces. You do physical enhancement using powders and different methods. You also do use what we call the superglue chamber using the superglue to enhance certain materials. All that is also part of our knowledge base, so you also taught that information and how different chemicals react with different expressions from our bodies. We are also trained in court processes and how to give evidence as an expert. I get asked all the time, how can I become a police officer? And I usually say, speak to a police officer about it, what is required, the knowledge base that's required, the fitness base that's required and see whether or not it's something that you want to do and you're capable of doing because once you become a police officer, it doesn't just stop there. It is important you understand their values. Being a police officer means you uphold those values at all times. Upholding the law and providing assistance to the community, particularly in times of emergency, disaster and crisis. The four core values at the service are integrity, professionalism, community and respect and fairness. And to be successful police recruit candidate, you must reflect all these values and all your actions. Integrity is in everything we do. To be successful as a Queensland Police Service Officer, you must be honest, trustworthy and hold yourself and each other to a high standard. Although duties and jobs are challenging, you must remain professional in everything you do. You must support one another and lend a hand to your community to ensure the service responds to their needs as well as the needs of our policing community. And lastly, respect and fairness. You must treat one another and your community members as you would like to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect. There are multiple attributes that the policing recruiting panel look for during the recruiting process. It is important that you know that no one attribute, skill or experience will guarantee your success as a police recruit. Instead, the panel will be looking at your overall suitability for the role. Firstly, you must have the ability to communicate with authority and confidence. Give clear and concise information for different audiences and members of the community. Employ active listening skills and have the ability to produce well-structured written communication. Proficient communication skills as a police officer can not only be helpful, they can be vital. Given the wide variety of jobs you attend as an officer, you must have the ability to exercise your sound judgment, to analyse information, to identify problems and use your knowledge and skills to devise solutions to extremely difficult and time-crucial tasks. You must be client-focused, be able to quickly and appropriately respond to requests and be able to readily identify solutions to a problem. You must be able to demonstrate an understanding of your role, have the ability to work closely with your peers and offer help and advice when needed to achieve a common goal. To demonstrate personal responsibility, you must actively display initiative, motivation and commitment to your role as a member of the QPS and make sound decisions based upon ethical considerations and organisational integrity. You must use your skills and equipment appropriately, respond to operational situations and confidently justify your use of force and the decisions you make. To demonstrate resilience, you must maintain self-discipline, remain focused, controlled and confident and respond logically and decisively in difficult and operational situations. Finally, you must uphold the Queensland community's high expectations of the QPS by treating all members of the community with dignity and respect at all times. Much of a police officer's work requires the ability to relate to those going through incredible hardships and showing compassion while still remaining professional. You'll find yourself inserted into the most tragic and chaotic moments of people's lives. Their worlds will be turned upside down and you will need to be a compassionate, strong, authority figure. If you have set your sights on joining the service, it is important for you to evaluate your specific traits and challenges and ensure you will be suitable for the role. Now more than ever, we need people who care about the job and their community. I've been policing for eight years now. I started off my career in Logan. However, I did transfer to the Gold Coast, which I worked in Surface Paradise Police Station. I then worked on getting a position in a community-based role, which is what I'm doing now. I currently work for Project Booyah, which is a police mentoring program for disengaged kids. I'm the police Gold Coast coordinator. I became really passionate about that when I became a mother. I have two children. I feel like every day that I go to work, I make a change and I challenge those kids to see the world in a different point of view. These kids just need communication. They need relationship. They need connection. And that's something because a police officer, I'm proud to give them. Community policing is something that I feel like I'm fill my cup every day. I go to work and I'm happy to be there. And the kids, they just love being a part of Project Booyah. It is important to remember when applying that you're applying to become a Queensland police service officer, not a Brisbane officer, a Mackay officer or a Cairns officer. You must be willing to serve anywhere across the state. This includes metropolitan or large or small cities, coastal areas, rural towns and remote communities. Queensland police officers protect and serve approximately five million people with 12,000 officers covering the entire state. I myself am in my sixth year of service at the moment. So far in my first year I went to Mackay so I experienced a bit of regional policing there. I then transferred up north to Kerwin Station in Townsville. So I spent about five years at Townsville substantially but during that period of time I've relieved at Greenvale Station, which is a one-man station in a very remote area, about two and a half hours from any kind of backup. The closest station to there is Charterstown Station. So in this role as a Queensland police service officer, you may be sent anywhere across the state for a multitude of reasons. The service obviously needs to react to anything that may be occurring in a community. So at any time you may be directed or deployed to areas across the entire state of Queensland. I've also been sent out to Manizer where I performed a couple of week service out there in response to some unrest a couple of years ago. I've also served in our criminal investigation branch for a short period of time. Our state intelligence branch is all kinds of sections of the service that you may find yourself working in, which is what makes this job so great in my opinion but you must be willing to serve anywhere that the service directs you to. So now let's look at the story of Senior Constable Chris Cronan working in the Mount Isa Criminal Investigation Branch. My name is Plain Clay Senior Constable Christopher Cronan from the Mount Isa Criminal Investigation Branch. I joined the police in 2010 as a general duties police officer. Took me approximately three years to get a appointed position as an investigator in the Criminal Investigation Branch. It's something that took a lot of work and I dedicated a lot of hours to. It wasn't something that just fell in my lap. Things that I look forward to in Mount Isa is obviously helping people and dealing with people and some of the ways that I do that is by removing narcotics and illicit substances off the street. That in turn has a massive community effect. Even the smallest amount of drugs that we are able to seize and remove can have a turn on the whole town for how it would be for that weekend. Mount Isa is one of the busiest, most exciting places I've ever worked. I thought Brisbane was busy and I was completely wrong. The opportunities that have been available to me up here in Mount Isa have been fantastic. You make friends for life out here. You're really jealous of family. As far as I've experienced, the communities are willing to work with us and it's very rewarding at the end of the day when you're able to help them with an issue and get them on their way. Difficult things obviously is being away from your family and getting back there can be testing, especially if there's a lot of things going on in the community. You're sort of your first to them and your family sort of comes second. The benefits are obviously they have the rural incentive payment. There's like Cadillia allowances as well. You can recruit your PDOs, have extra time off, extra leave. Because Mount Isa District covers at least 23% of Queensland, sometimes you go to work by plane or by boat, which is something that's very unique to the northern region. Joining the Queensland Police Service would provide someone with the opportunity of a lifetime to experience various parts of Queensland that not very many other people would get to go to. However, those opportunities don't just come freely. They need to be worked for. And my advice to anyone would be to just put your head down and keep working for it until you get it and take on the criticisms that you receive. Before you apply to become a police officer, have you checked that you meet all of our pre-entry requirements? To be eligible to apply to join the service, you must be at least 18 years old. You must have successfully completed year 12 or equivalent or have three years full-time paid employment or part-time equivalent. You must hold an open driver's license or a provisional driver's license with 12 months driving experience, automatic or manual. You must be an Australian citizen, hold permanent residency status or be a New Zealand citizen, holding a special category visa under the Migration Act 1958 in order to apply. You must be ready and able to demonstrate a reasonable degree of aerobic fitness and physical strength and be psychologically fit. And finally, you must have a very high standard of past behaviour and conduct, including traffic and or criminal history. We understand you may have had issues or prior offences in your past, which you may think will impact your application. If you do have a traffic or criminal history, you must disclose this information as a part of your integrity assessment for the recruiting panel to make a thorough assessment. You're expected to disclose everything, as failure to do so will be looked upon unfavourably. The recruiting process for police officers is very simple. There are eight stages to the recruiting process, and applicants must successfully complete each assessment to progress through to the next stage of the selection process. You are competing against other applicants, so the better that you perform in each criteria, the stronger your chances will be of selection. The first step is completing the Queensland Police Service Entrance Assessment. This assessment is delivered by the Australian Council for Educational Research on behalf of the QPS. This assessment is made up of five online separate components including literacy, numeracy, abstract reasoning, written assessment and digital literacy. You can prepare for this test by using the sample questions in your QPS candidate information booklet or purchase an online practice test when you book your assessment in. Your result will generally be available within two weeks of the exam date, and you will be notified via email once the results are released. From here, you can progress to the next step of the recruiting application process, or you may be required to reset the assessment. If you have any queries about this assessment, please visit qps.acer.org. If you successfully complete this assessment, you will progress to step two, and you will be invited to submit your online application. The third step is integrity vetting. As a service, we are committed to being an employer of choice by selecting people who display the attributes of integrity, fairness, equality, professionalism and accountability. The systematic integrity screening of police recruit applications is an important mechanism for the QPS to maintain and advance its organizational integrity. Step number four involves your written psychological assessment, panel interview and recruit entry fitness assessment. The psychological assessment process may include testing, an interview and further assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to evaluate whether the applicant has the necessary psychological traits to perform the inherent occupational requirements of a police officer. Interviews are conducted by a panel consisting of a police officer and a representative of the community. The interview is structured and you will be asked a series of questions based on the selection criteria to ensure a consistent form of assessment. The panel interview will provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your merit for each selection criteria using your level of life experience, employment skills, community involvement, communication and interpersonal skills and overall your personal suitability for a policing career. You will also be required to complete a beat test around this time. As a police officer, it is imperative applicants maintain a healthy level of fitness. As part of step four, you will be required to undertake fitness tests designed to test your level of cardio fitness and physical strength. The physical components of recruit training and policing are very demanding and you will be expected to be in peak physical condition to commence the recruit selection process. You must be able to successfully complete the beat test to demonstrate you have the reasonable degree of aerobic fitness to complete the physical training associated with recruit training. There are several helpful websites or apps that can help you train for this test prior to applying to join the service. Step number five is your medical assessment. The QPS places a significant emphasis on physical competency due to the high level of physical demands placed on police officers in operational duties. You will be required to complete a full medical examination with a QPS-approved pre-employment medical service provider to progress through to the next step in an application process. There is no generalised blanket ban on any particular medical condition, physical disability or impairment. Each case is considered on its merits. Where necessary, advice from relevant medical specialists will be sought before an assessment is made about a candidate's ability to perform the operational duties of a police officer. If required, you may also need a face-to-face psychological interview around this time. Next, the QPS will do its background and reference checks to ensure you are a suitable candidate. And finally, if successful, you'll be invited to commence your police recruit training at two of our academies, based in Brisbane or Townsville. To ensure that your application process runs smoothly, please respond to all calls and emails from police recruiting and return all paperwork in a timely manner. The QPS conducts ongoing recruiting and accepts applicants throughout the whole year. We do not recruit for a particular intake. Once you start your training at the academy, you will spend eight months preparing to become a first-year constable. Recruits are equipped with knowledge of the law and learn the practical skills to professionally and confidently handle the range of policing duties during these eight months. For the 12 months following the academy, you will join the first-year constable program. This training pairs you with an experienced officer and under their guidance, you will gather knowledge and skills to become a professional and competent police officer. You will then commence general duties for three years and be on the front line of the QPS. Here, you will attend the same incidents as experienced officers. You'll perform all duties required of a police officer, including shift work, handovers, paperwork, and interviewing suspects. After these three years, you will be eligible to apply for promotions and specialist roles within the service. Securing a promotion or spot in our specialist units can be competitive. You must continue to work hard and prove yourself in the role to be a successful candidate for the roles you are aiming for. Our most popular roles you may consider are working towards R, child abuse investigator, covert and surveillance roles, dog squad handler, fingerprint specialist, homicide detective, prosecutor, or join our specialist emergency response team. If successful, we will provide you with the necessary training. Let's look at Senior Constable Jay Lilly's story, who, after a few knockbacks, made it into the dog squad. I'm Senior Constable Jay Lilly. I'm a dog handler for the Queensland Police and I'm attached to Brisbane Dog Squad. I joined the Queensland Police in 2009. I was 26 years old when I joined. My first six months on the road as a first year I spent at Petrie Police Station, I was then sent to Sandgate for my second six months. And from there I got my permanent posting at Stafford Police Station where I spent six years. I knew fairly early on in the job after my training that the dog squad is where I wanted to go, but I did know that it was a very competitive area. I had to put in a lot of hard work, you know, directing my career towards that. It took me six years. Then I finally got shortlisted and got an interview and missed out. About 12 months later, I had another interview where I succeeded. From there, I then had to go and compare psychometric testing and then you have to go on a 14 week dog course which is very physical and it looks a lot easier than actually what it is, I guess. Choosing the dog squad is a lifestyle choice. We have our dogs with us 24-7. They live at home with us. They become part of your family. The dog relies on you and we rely on the dog for the results. You've just got to learn to work your family life and your work life together. Then sometimes it works out really well and other times it can be really difficult. My family understand that I love my job and they've known right from the beginning that shift work may take me away at times, but they've also seen the good side of it, of what I do. Of a daytime, if I'm normally assist investigators with search warrants, where we're helping them to try to locate drugs that are hidden through good concealment methods. So we search houses, we search vehicles, we search nightclubs, we search people. Pretty much anywhere where you think a drug could be concealed, a drug dog will search. It's a great job. You get to experience many challenges and you also get to test yourself and really push yourself and conquer things I guess that you never thought that you would do. You've got to be motivated. Like I said, you've got to be willing to push yourself. You've got to go that extra mile and if you're motivated and you really want it, then you'll get there. In addition to an exciting policing career, the QPS also offers a generous salary, including during the recruit training program. We offer stable employment with a large variety of work and six weeks of recreational leave per year. We offer a 38-hour working week, paid overtime, the opportunity to access flexible working arrangements and paid parental and maternity leave. You will also have access to leave for the Australian Defence Force reserves, study and sporting commitments, have education, advancement opportunities, receive financial incentives for working remote areas and have many opportunities for career progression. Before applying to join the service, you need to ensure you are ready to commit to the Queensland Police Service in its entirety. That means you have prepared yourself emotionally, physically and mentally. The service expects your full-time commitment during the recruit program and a further 12 months as a first-year constable. We expect you adhere to the uniform guidelines and safe practices for the use of maintenance and accouchments and police equipment. You must be confident in carrying and using a range of tactical use force options to perform your duties and be willing to perform your duties in various and diverse locations throughout the state. You'll be required to undertake shift work and potentially attend dramatic incidents such as traffic crash fatalities or child abuse situations. We ask that you maintain your physical and emotional health and provide continuous dedication to fostering a positive organisational image of the service in the community. I hope you are considering the Queensland Police Service for your potential career. Although challenging, it is a very exciting and rewarding career choice which requires dedication, commitment and understanding. Thank you for taking the time today to listen. There's more information available on our website. Good luck. We look forward to seeing you soon.