Some questions for Cathy
Question: What do you do to unwind at the end of a long day? Answer: I’m a fairly active person and I go to the gym when I can and swim. I love walking my dog on the beach and more recently I have developed a love of cooking. I love cooking supper from scratch following recipes (but nothing too complicated!). Jamie Oliver is always good!
The rest of my day is currently taken up managing the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System; which is a crime investigation tool that manages thousands of individual bits of data such as DNA, fingerprints, physical descriptions and offender profiles. This is shared with other forces to help with their enquiries. For this reason I am based in our Major Incident Room, which at first glance looks a bit disorganised but we all know where things are because we are all accountable for every piece of paperwork we create, and trust me, during an enquiry there’s lots of it.
We also manage exhibits, which all have to be logged and there can be hundreds of them at times, depending on the size of our investigation, and can include interview tapes and CCTV amongst other things.
No one day is the same and although the subject matter of my job can be extremely draining and traumatic, I also find it very rewarding. I always wanted to work in this sort of field and I feel incredibly lucky that I am able to do so.
Question: What do you like most about being a Police Officer? Answer: It’s the old cliché but genuinely helping people, giving advice, crime investigation and bringing offenders to justice. I enjoy team work and cooperating with a variety of agencies both statuary and voluntary is key in a lot of areas of policing, to ensure that the people that need it, get the full support they require. The other amazing thing about being a Police officer is the variety of work a day can bring in both Uniformed Operations and Crime Services. At any time you can be called to work in any of the roles that you are specialised in – FLO, Negotiator, Search, SOLO, HOLMES etc. – not many other jobs offer this variety.
Question: What do you dislike most about being a Police Officer? Answer: I struggle to think of any – every job has good days and not so good days but nothing specific comes to mind.
Question: How did you become a Police Officer? Answer: I had served in the Military for a number of years and so coming back to Jersey and joining the Police seemed like a natural move for me. Luckily I got accepted!
Question: What advice would you give someone, either just starting their career or midway through their career, who wants to be a Police Officer?
Answer: I would advise them to take the most of every opportunity that comes their way, seek out any relevant secondments or training that comes their way in those areas that they have a desire to work in. Whether it be a specialised skill or within a specialised department, there is so much to learn and achieve. I may have been working within the police for 23 years but I still enjoy learning, training and developing as part of my career.
THOROUGH 20/20 A day in the life of... Page 53
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