Detective Superintendent Alice Ames: I think it changed the world forever

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - He said, "Yeah, yeah no problem", kissed his wife goodbye, and we got in the car to drive down to the police station, and I can just remember to this day the feeling when he just turned around and he just went "It's me."

PC Melissa Marsh - Oh wow!

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - And this person was wanted for really serious offences.

The fear was real. You know, people really thought they were going to die from this.

PC Melissa Marsh - Yeah of course.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - So managing those expectations, I think at the peak, we had over a thousand reported breaches a day, and you put that on top of normal demand with a hundred of your staff not being able to come in, really challenging. I think it changed the world forever.

I am deputy head of the Force Crime and Incident Response. So, it's a team of around 700 people, and whatever your first contact is with Kent Police it'll be one of my team who you speak to.

It's really important that I'm, feel, I'm able to give enough as a parent, as a wife, as a sister, a daughter, because if I can't do that, I'm not emotionally in the right place to be a good superintendent.

I want both, you know. I came back from my first maternity leave and said, “I still want it”.

I wish they could see what I see, ‘cause I am really privileged to do the job I do, and I see people coming in, wanting to help every single day and working their absolute socks off. [Music]

PC Melissa Marsh - Welcome to More Than the Badge, a Kent Police podcast. My name is PC Melissa Marsh, and I will be your host. Today's episode is with Detective Superintendent Alice Ames. Welcome to the podcast Alice.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - Thanks Mel.

PC Melissa Marsh - Can you tell us about your background, of how you got into policing.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - I always wanted to be a police officer. There's no one in my family that's ever been in the police, nobody who's ever suggested it, but I just, it's just something I always wanted to do.

So, I went to university, always with the plan that I'd apply to the police, but I kind of thought ‘well I don't know if I'm what they want, I don't know if it will happen’, so, kind of went and got a degree, applied in the January before I graduated, and then it took quite a while, so I started the following year, and yeah, I met some people, I spent lots of time before joining. I went to the Kent Police Museum, I went and met my local officers and yeah, I just always wanted to do something to help and also something that every day was different, and that was it.

PC Melissa Marsh - So, with all the museums, was there another role that you did before joining the police that you felt was vital into what you do now?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - Yeah, definitely, because I look back and think ‘could I have not gone to university’, but actually I think all the jobs that I did before I joined the police definitely, made me much stronger as a police officer.

I’d worked mostly in the leisure industry, so throughout my degree I'd worked sort of 30 to 40 hours a week alongside it to fund it, so I always had that work ethic, and always had the desire to help and had lots of public service experience which definitely helped once I did join.

PC Melissa Marsh - Can you tell us about your current role as a superintendent.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - So my current role is that I am deputy head of the Force Crime and Incident Response. So, that is the team, every form of contact and crime recording so, from the front counters around the county, through to those who answer the phones if anyone rings 999 or 101, to the radio operators, through to teams including the Investigation Management Unit, where we record all of the crimes, police national computer, we have our own Learning and Development team, our own Business Development team. So, it's a team of around 700 people, and whatever your first contact is with Kent Police, it'll be one of my team who you speak to.

PC Melissa Marsh - How long have you been doing that role for?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - So, I've been a police officer for nearly 21 years, that seems like a long time, but in my current role, I've been there, nearly two years, but I've been in the Control Room in lots of different posts during my career. So, I was there as a force incident manager, who is the inspector who decides whether we're going to deploy firearms assets or pursue a vehicle, or the helicopter and things like that, and I was a detective chief inspector and a chief inspector in different roles within that command as well, so, I've come and gone from that command over my career.

PC Melissa Marsh - And how did you evolve from PC to superintendent?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - Yeah, there's lots of jumps there isn't there. I didn't join with an aspiration to be a senior officer. I did get promoted to sergeant quite quickly, after about three years’ service, but I've done so many different roles in those 21 years and I love that, probably about half as a detective, half in uniform, and I've often done both detective and uniform roles at each rank. So, I've worked in so many different places from Custody to specialising in domestic abuse, to, I was a district commander down in Folkstone, I've been head of performance for the force which is a completely different role, and I love the fact that I've done so many different roles and have experienced lots of different things, and I think that, you know, I look forward to loads of different roles in the future as well.

PC Melissa Marsh - Can you tell us of a memorable moment, or an operation in your career that's really stayed with you.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - Yeah, definitely. I guess this is where, my husband is in the police force, he's a PC. It's one of the few times where he is definitely the children's favourite, when you have to do the school's inputs, because being a PC is probably the more exciting [laughing] part of policing than my role, and we often joke that the most dangerous part of my job is probably getting a paper cut, [laughing] but, so when I think back to exciting or memorable, there's lots of sad moments that will stay with me forever, but they're not the ones that I dwell on. So, when I think back to exciting moments they probably are back when I was a PC or a sergeant, because when you're actually front line and you have that, you know, you do want to catch the baddies, you do want to help victims and the most direct contact you have is when you are frontline operational.

So, one that I often think about, and it comes to mind because I actually drove past the road the other day and it reminded me of it, was when I was a sergeant, and we'd had a bit of information that there was somebody who'd been wanted for a long, long time that might be at an address there. We got told by the other force that it was fairly unlikely, but that something had come up, I can't remember what it was, but it was either a date of birth similar or a name similar, and they just asked us to go and do a door knock and find out if they knew anything about this person that was wanted for really serious offences. I can remember we went round there, it was quite late in the evening, we did a few enquiries, gentleman opened the door, we met him, we met his partner, his wife, his children, and he was able to show documentation that it wasn't him. They said they don't know, never heard of that name. We even checked some tattoos and things, and hadn't got them that matched, so we walked away, went to update the other force, and I just sat, in the car, and I just had that feeling, and I don't know if you ever get that, I think they call it you know copper's instinct, or you know just that gut feeling that things just weren't right. So, I said to my colleague, I said I'm just not happy. We didn't have live fingerprint machines in those days in the cars that we can, we would be able to do now,

PC Melissa Marsh - Of course.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - but we did luckily have fingerprint machines in the police station, and I just said if it's somebody that's a really law-abiding member of the public, they will understand. So, I think my colleague thought I was mad, so I went in and I arrested him, and I just explained really politely, you know, that it would be quick to eliminate him from our enquiries and if it isn't him, I'd do all the recovery work, so he said "Yeah, yeah no problem", kissed his wife goodbye and we got in the car to drive down to the police station, and I can just remember to this day the feeling when he just turned around and he just went "It's me."

PC Melissa Marsh - Oh wow!

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - And you know when your heart just sinks, and this person was wanted for really serious offences, and was a risk to other people.

PC Melissa Marsh - Yeah.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - It still makes me now, just think ‘the what if, if he didn't’, but he had a whole new identity, he'd had tattoos removed, he had a new ID, he had got a new job, he was, he had remarried, he had children, and they all had no idea, no idea, how someone can just create that, new life, so yeah I can remember ringing the other force and they couldn't believe it, they just couldn't believe they've been looking for this person for so long, and he made a little error, you know, made a little error by using his original date of birth or something similar, and fair play to that force because they carried on looking for him.

PC Melissa Marsh - Of course.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - So yeah.

PC Melissa Marsh - That's made my skin crawl.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames -But when I drive past there, it's definitely one of those that you go "oh thank God you made that choice."

PC Melissa Marsh - Yep, thank goodness for that copper's instinct.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - Yeah.

PC Melissa Marsh - What has been your most challenging moment?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - I think Covid. It's really hard to think back now to how much that changed the world, but it's changed it forever for sure and certainly policing.

I was chief inspector at the Control Room at the time, one of the jobs that I'd mentioned I've done before, and it's absolutely right that in the Control Room we can employ quite a few people with different backgrounds, different health challenges, but when Covid hit and the self-isolating came in, and those that were higher risk had to work from home, I think we had overnight about hundred of our staff, who couldn't come in the next day. Now, we don't have the technology or the support for people to take 999 calls at home it absolutely wouldn't be appropriate for people to do that when they should have the welfare support around them. So overnight we had a real challenge. It's also a really close-knit environment where a lot of people work in one room, so social distancing is near on impossible.

PC Melissa Marsh - Of course.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - So, there's an awful lot of people and the risk and certainly the fear factor was huge, you know, this is something no one had ever dealt with, so overnight we had to split the control room to three sites, technologically challenging.

PC Melissa Marsh - Definitely.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Supervision, people challenging, and then you know the public expectations of us was another thing that, was all brand new. You know because we were getting reports of Covid breaches, and I look back now and I think it's crazy, you know, I can remember ones like, my neighbours got three glasses on their garden table, I think they're going to have a third person come around, and breach Covid, you know my neighbour’s playing music, I think they're going to have a party, and these were all things that normally we would be able to say to that member of the public “I’m really sorry about that, but it's not something that we're able to assist you with”, but people, the fear was real, you know people really thought they were going to die from this.

PC Melissa Marsh – Yeah, of course.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - So managing those expectations, I think at the peak we had over a thousand reported breaches a day, and you put that on top of normal demand with a hundred of your staff not being able to come in, really challenging.

I was very grateful that the children were still able to go to school and the school really supported us [laughing] because I worked a ridiculous amount of hours to get through that, so challenging but also what a thing to live through, you know, to actually look back on, to see how we coped, yeah I think, we learned so much, and crime will never be the same again, policing will never be the same again, things like fraud and, you know, the reduction of things like burglaries and things like that from people now working from home more and things like that, I think it changed the world forever.

PC Melissa Marsh - Yeah of course. I suppose the safeguarding was really different, the advice that you would give online for someone for a Covid breach, which was something that would normally be a civilian matter, that must have been a drastic challenge.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - It really was, and risk to people with domestic abuse and things like that was really, really high.

PC Melissa Marsh - Yeah.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames - But also people's fear of letting people into their house, was also really high so, challenging. I think we quite enjoyed being able to catch people that were committing crime through things like drug dealing and things because of course drug users still needed to get their drugs and so being able to see people out on the street, was a lot easier, wasn't it.

PC Melissa Marsh - With the three divisions of trying to split the Control Room with Covid, how did you manage to bring it all together to make it work?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Yeah, it was it was challenging. We have really great working relationships with IT, with Estates, and in order to make it safe for my team to come to work, to protect them, but also to be able to give that level of service to the public, we worked together really quickly, literally within 24 hours it was all set up, we made sure that the team felt supported, that they felt that they could socially distance, and it meant just forgetting everything that you've done before, you know, and quickly coming up with new working practices, but the best thing is that I don't think anyone in the members of the public in Kent would have noticed any difference, and that was a real credit to all the people that worked on that in Kent Police from my team and the other teams that helped us, with their real ‘can do’ attitude, and we also really worked closely to try and be able to utilise digital contact.

So digital contact is things like live chat, online crime reporting, and there's a lot of things that you can report online now, and of course during Covid that was a real help for us because those staff who were self-isolating, were able to really support us with those type of contacts. So, whilst now is back in the Control Room, and every single contact comes to our Control Room, during Covid we were able to utilise some of those staff who really wanted to still work and really wanted to still do their job, and they were able to do the digital contact for us. So, overall massive challenge, but a real team Kent effort.

PC Melissa Marsh - It's a good way to streamline all those calls that were coming in at the same time.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Definitely, especially the Covid breaches where we were able to get nationally an online form created, so as I say, that sort of thousand breaches a day we were able to go through them and see which were the most urgent and be able to prioritise which ones we attended first.

PC Melissa Marsh - How many calls on average would you say you had back then?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – So, on a, demand in the Control Room does vary depending mostly on the time of year, but other factors as well, such as weather, big events, you know national sporting events create more demand, heat creates massive demand, but also any severe weather does, you know, because if you have lots of snow we generally have lots of road traffic collisions. If you have really bad storms, you might have lots of trees down and blocking roads so, at the peak in the summer, we can receive up to about 3,000 contacts a day. Through the winter and the spring, it varies and might go down to around 2,000 contacts a day, but that's still quite a lot every single day, it's always busy.

PC Melissa Marsh - And as a leader in the Control Room, can you explain to our viewers that are members of the public, how the 999 system works ‘cause obviously when we as response officers go to a job, that is triaged based on priority.

Could you please give us an explanation as to what might help them understand when they're calling 999, what to expect ‘cause sometimes, you'll get a call and they go "we want police officers now" and sometimes that's not going to happen, because someone else's life is in a higher risk.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Yeah, absolutely. We would love to send an officer to every single call that we receive. That's never going to be possible, sadly, so you're right we have to prioritise.

We want to be able to give a really quick and fast, excellent service to people that really need us most. So, therefore when someone calls 999, they would initially go through to the BT exchange, and they ask which service the caller wants. Once they say ‘police’, or, if the line's silent, but they can hear something, they come through to police, so BT exchange will send them to the force where it needs to go. My call handlers will then take that call, they will take initial details enough to be able to make an initial risk assessment about whether we need to send an officer, and whether they want to, they need to attend with the lights and sirens on, or whether it's a slightly lower priority and they could be there within a few hours, without obviously risking, other road users, and the risks that come with driving with the lights and sirens on.

PC Melissa Marsh - Yeah.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – So yeah, we do triage, we also really tackle, people that abuse the 999 system. So, if we do have anybody who uses it inappropriately we make sure that we do take action against those people because they risk, genuine people in need not being able to get through so, it's really important that people only use the 999 system for an emergency, and in Kent Police we're in a really, really good position, where we answer non-emergency demand ,whether that's via digital contact or on the non-emergency line, really quickly. So, there's no need for anybody to have to call 999 unless it is a real emergency in Kent.

PC Melissa Marsh - So can you tell me about the proudest moment you've had in your career?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – The proudest. Personally, I was awarded a Leader of the Year nomination in 2020 I think, so probably as a really selfish personal achievement that would stand out as my biggest, proudest moment, but I also think in my current role, a couple of years ago the Control Room in Kent was probably ranked as one of the lowest performing. We weren't giving the service we wanted to, and now we're one of the top performing, and we've moved locations, we've, you know been on a long journey to get to that point, but it's definitely something that I know I'll look back on when I'm old and retired, and feel, really proud of.

PC Melissa Marsh - Yeah of course. I mean you're talking about your leadership award in 2020, it's definitely something to be proud of considering that you've battled all of those challenges back in Covid as well, yeah own up to it and be proud of it, I love that [laughing].

How do you manage your emotional parts in the job, and how do you support your team with managing this as well?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – I think when I did join, I hadn't got my coping mechanism sorted. I think you have to learn what works for you, and sometimes when people do join, when they haven't had much life experience or trauma, that can be really tough, but I certainly learnt them, and certainly during Covid, my husband would vouch for the fact that not being able to do some of my sport, which I didn't realise until then, was my coping mechanism [laughing], I definitely suffered. I didn't realise how important that was to me and coping with it, and having that outlet is definitely how I cope with stress and emotional situations.

There's really great support, in Kent Police, whether that's peer support, whether that's through you know our Welfare team so, there is always help out there, but yeah personally I'm really lucky I have a really supportive family. I can always talk to any of them, and then I let it off during sport for sure.

PC Melissa Marsh - Of course, of course. I’ve got the same release [laughing] and then as a leader, how do you manage the emotional part of your team as well?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Yeah, I think I've learnt not to try and set boundaries, not to take everything, and I try to tell that and help other leaders because, you're no good to anyone if you break, and everyone wants to be the best they can but those people that say "I'm there 24/7 for you and I'll call you every day" and actually I've realised now that that's not really helping the individual who needs to find their own coping mechanisms as well so, there's always times for that of course, but helping other people, I like to hope that I can be really approachable, it’s something that I'm really passionate about. I'm actually studying for a leadership master's degree at the moment, concentrating around leadership, and sort of psychological safety of the workplace so, it's something I find really fascinating and could talk to you all day about.

PC Melissa Marsh - Sounds like you you're in the right department for all of that with everyone and their emotional calls that they have to go through every day.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – The secondary trauma of listening to it is real, for sure, yeah definitely.

PC Melissa Marsh - So how do you balance the work and home life?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – I think, I have work guilt, and I have mum guilt, doesn't everyone [laughing] never feel that you can do both, enough. I have a phrase that I've shared with many people over the years that I'm mum before ma’am. I used to say mum and ma’am ‘cause I used to think you can have both, but I think now I'm mum before ma’am because, if I can't do the first one, I'm really rubbish at the second one. So, it's really important that I feel I'm able to give enough as a parent, as a wife, as a sister, a daughter, you know, because if I can't do that, I'm not emotionally in the right place to be a good superintendent.

I’m really lucky, I feel really fortunate that I've been able to have the career I have. I’ve got one stepson, a daughter and a son, and we've been able to have both, and I feel great, I want both, you know I came back from my first maternity leave and said “I still want it, I still want both”, I don't think it has to be either or, so how do I balance, with difficulty, but which mum doesn't, you know. Every mum must have the same battles. I’ve always worked full-time, I’ve been flexi at certain times, my husband has been flexi at certain times. I make a commitment to my kids that I pick them up one day a week from school. Now that might not sound a lot to a lot of people and people will probably listen to it saying ‘that's not enough’, but I love that day, my kids love that day, we look forward to it you know, and I feel really fortunate that we've been able to work shifts around them growing up, and to be there for them so, yeah I think you can have both.

PC Melissa Marsh – So, Alice we've just spoken about sports being your release. I hear you're part of the Kent Police netball team.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Oh I am!

PC Melissa Marsh – Tell me more.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Anyone who knows me knows I'd love to talk about netball. So yeah, I'm chair of the Kent Police netball team. It's something I'm really passionate about because it's so much more than a netball team. We have about 50 players, but we have no trials, we have no required ability level, but what we are as we're like a support group, you know. So we've helped people on the team through cancer treatment, where their parents have you know written to us to say it's what kept them going and their treatment's been around matches, and we've been in return to work plans for people that have had really great loss in their life or, you know, are grieving. We've been that support when people are on maternity leave, through business cases and know we are just, we're just there to help each other, the netballs always a bonus so, yeah, we play other forces. In Kent Police there's a sports policy where you get up to two days a year off, to play sport, and they fund 50% of our official commitments. So, for example we go on tour once a year to one of the other forces, normally there's about 40 different forces there, and it's a really nice time, because you get to know people from all different parts of policing that you would never have actually worked with before, and next time you've got a query or you need to speak to someone about something and you know who to go to.

We do lots of fundraising, we hold a mixed event each year. So, each year, we've run it for many, many years now, and I think we've raised about £30,000 for local charities through it, where we bring teams from across the force and they all get to meet each other and the men love it especially, we even had a chief officer team last year where the dep (deputy chief constable) and the ACCs (assistant chief constables) were all playing, and I think it really breaks down barriers.

PC Melissa Marsh – Of course.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – To you know, to actually see people playing on a court, so yeah, it's just something I'm really passionate about. We've started going into universities and six forms as well, and my team go in there, and we play a game, but we also say a little bit about all of our careers and what we do, and I've got some teammates they are inspirational, you know, I sit there and I'm just in awe of them, and they all say a little bit about what they've done and how they incorporate a career but they're a netballer, and it's been really lovely, you know, we've had some feedback that people are retaking their exams if they've been unsuccessful, or that they really want a career in policing now, so hopefully we're doing our little bit to inspire the next generation of Kent Police officers and staff as well.

PC Melissa Marsh – Absolutely brilliant. I think on top of that you get recognised for playing sports here at Kent Police as well, is that correct?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Yeah, the, so we have annual awards, and you can get your club colours and various things, and yeah, you also get a really great group of friends.

PC Melissa Marsh – So, a great bonding moment for all, and inspiring people to do more within police…

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Yeah definitely.

PC Melissa Marsh – and develop. Perfect, so tell me what you found most rewarding about your role.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – The people, definitely people. I’m often asked, "what's your dream job?" and I say "oh I don't mind where I go, I just want a team." I want a team, I love working with people, I love getting the best from them, helping them develop, finding them, you know if they feel supported and they have the right training and they're happy to come to work, I genuinely think they'll give a really good service to the public so, yeah, the people is the bit I love. It's also the griefiest part, but it's definitely the bit I love.

PC Melissa Marsh – Yep, I can agree [laughing]. So, we'll go into our off-the-cuff questions.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Okay.

PC Melissa Marsh – So tell me when you were a child, what was your dream job?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – I can't remember wanting to do anything except being a police officer.

PC Melissa Marsh – I love that, I think I look back to the time that I got asked that question, and I think I chose petrol attendant [laughing]. I mean there's nothing wrong with that, but it’s still a service, still providing to members of the public [laughing].

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Maybe when you retire.

PC Melissa Marsh – Maybe one day. Tell me something that's currently on your bucket list.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Oh, I've got a whole long bucket list, I’ll tell you one though. When I retire, and we get our pension, I've made my husband promise that we'll go to the West Indies with the Barmy Army and watch the watch England cricket play.

PC Melissa Marsh – Oh.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – That's on my bucket list. It's going to be what we aspire to when we retire.

PC Melissa Marsh – Love it, love it. And if you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – So, I've thought about this one, and I think, I would just like not to get old. If I could do anything, because the thought of getting old really terrifies me, older, I should say. If my children are watching this because they told me regularly that I'm old,

PC Melissa Marsh – That’s not fair [laughing].

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – But and I'd love to go back to when they were younger, I’d love to go back and re-able to do things, so yeah being able to, I wouldn't want to relive my any part of it but, actually not getting any older. I don't want to be able to not play sport, I don't want to be able to be reliant on you know getting older as such.

PC Melissa Marsh – More stay young and make more memories.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Yeah definitely.

PC Melissa Marsh – Yeah, I like the sound of that. And one thing the public wish, well you wish, that the public knew about police officers.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – I wish they saw what I see. You know, I wish they could come and spend a day in my shoes and see how hard people work. Do you know we talked about Covid, and one of the strange things from Covid was that everyone loved the police, certainly in Kent Police we felt the love. You know we had pizzas delivered, we had food, we had drinks donated, people were so supportive of the police having to still go into work, and it makes me so sad now, when, it doesn't feel like that anymore, you know, and those very small minority of people who are criminals, they don't represent the rest of us, and you see it in social media and things every day, and I wish they could see what I see, ‘cause I am really privileged to do the job I do, and I see people coming in wanting to help every single day and working their absolute socks off. If they could see them working on Christmas Day, being away from their families, and still doing absolute best I wish they could just see that that's the majority.

PC Melissa Marsh – So I know you said, you don't like being called old [laughing]. Taking a look at the memories that you've made, over the years, what advice would you give your younger self?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Probably, as I said to look after, put yourself first a little bit more, because if you break, you're of no good to anyone else, and as much as I'm still trying to learn this one, try not to be afraid of failure.

I do honestly believe that if you, are afraid of failing, what have you got to lose, and I try to tell myself this, being a netballer I do hate to lose. Everyone who knows me, knows I'm very competitive, but actually if it feels uncomfortable that's probably even more reason to give it a go.

PC Melissa Marsh - It's more reason to challenge and learn from that challenge, to be the best version of yourself.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Yeah so, I'd tell my younger self, but I'll probably still keep reminding myself even now.

PC Melissa Marsh - You can do it and give it a go.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – Give it a go.

PC Melissa Marsh - But you'll learn something from it.

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – If you feel like it's scary, even more reason to do it.

PC Melissa Marsh - Yeah [Laughing]. What advice would you give someone who's considering a career in policing?

Detective Superintendent Alice Ames – I would absolutely encourage them to do it. I think, come in with your eyes wide open. Make sure it's right for you. Make sure you've got the resilience to cope with it but know that we'll support you. You don't have to be a hard, scary person to be a police officer, but you do have to know that it's going to be tough, and that you're going to have to work really hard, so yeah, if you're willing to put in the effort and dedication, then you can have an amazing career with so many different opportunities, so many different jobs, and you get to play netball too.

PC Melissa Marsh - Brilliant, brilliant thank you.

If you've enjoyed this podcast, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn where we'll be posting previews of our upcoming episodes. You can watch this episode on our YouTube channel and find out more about the variety of opportunities available by searching Kent Police careers see you soon.[Music].