Case studies: Police sergeant: Laurie

Laurie is one of a small minority of officers on the Accelerated Career Development Programme (ACDP) within the Scottish Police Service. She is a psychology graduate with a Masters in IT and web design.

Currently, I am a police sergeant in the professionals standards department. I review complaints that have been made about the police and devise ways of improving our service to minimise future complaints.

Recently, I have also worked in the criminal investigation department (CID), in operational planning, dealing with matters such as the energy sector, emergency planning or visiting members of the Royal family.

Prior to that, I was a response sergeant on operational duties. If the career development programme that I am on goes according to plan, I hope to be a chief officer after 12 years of police service.

I applied for the police through the usual channels and completed my two years' probationary period in operational (on the street) policing. I studied for and passed the three elements of the Police Scotland promotion exams, which made me eligible for promotion to sergeant (constables who wish to be promoted now have to undertake a police diploma, which takes 18 months), which along with my degree made me eligible to apply for the ACDP.

I was attracted to the highly organised nature of the programme, which recognises potential in candidates for future command posts. After a fairly rigorous process of a scored application form, psychometric tests, a force selection board and a two-day national assessment centre, I was accepted onto the programme. I was not accepted the first time round - only after my second attempt at the assessment centre so I had six years' experience of police service before being promoted to sergeant.

Candidates can apply for the programme at the same time as they join the police through the regular process although, if successful on ACDP, they will not be promoted until completion of their two years' probation and their police diploma, i.e. a minimum of three-and-a-half years' service).

I would recommend to anyone considering applying to the police and who has the drive and ambition to be a chief officer to give ACDP a go. The entire process is designed to test candidates on a number of competencies to identify potential chief officers of the future. The scenarios and questions posed at all stages of the process are not police related as that would be unfair to external candidates so vast policing experience is not required.

The programme is not necessarily a faster way to promotion - it's possible to self-nominate for promotion after successfully completing 18 months in any substantive rank - but it does provide a highly structured developmental route, which gives insight and experience into a wide range of operational and strategic policing issues. Leadership potential is key to success in promotion but, beyond that, the skills I use on a day-to-day basis are the same as the constable on the beat - strong communication and interpersonal skills, respect for diversity and adaptable teamwork.

Being in the police is a fabulous, exciting job, which changes on a day-to-day basis. There is huge scope to specialise, your skills develop constantly and promotion is always a possibility. If a person is interested in joining, I would suggest that they get to know as much as possible about the force area they wish to join, the dynamics of the force, the name of the chief constable, etc. Attend the local police office and speak to probationers, contact the recruitment department or attend a candidate briefing session. Develop the skills you know are being sought and if the Accelerated Careers Development Programme appeals and you are eligible, then go ahead and apply.