Joanne Leach

I joined Kent Police in the force control room in May 2018. Being an older person, I struggled with the training especially with using the computers, but I was surrounded by a group of knowledgeable people who were happy to help me. The training period was eight weeks, four weeks in a classroom and four weeks in the control room in ‘grad bay’, where you are supported by a coach when taking live calls. Once you complete the training successfully, you will join your team in the control room.

It was a very daunting experience when I first started taking calls from members of the public as some of the calls can be quite harrowing, but the training enabled me to help the callers with their enquiries. However, every day is a learning day and even after being here for nearly six years I am still learning.

I am currently trained in call taking, switchboard, admin, and Live Chat. The variety of work does keep you busy, which I enjoy. I am also a retention ambassador for Kent Police.

If you are thinking of applying, do it, you will not be disappointed. Kent Police are flexible with working patterns if certain shifts do not suit your work home-life balance. The work is sometimes hard, but you are surrounded by a wonderful group of people, not just on your team, but across the force control room. I have learnt a lot about myself since doing this job and have learnt that listening to and learning from people will help you massively in this role.