Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk

February 26, 2009

Aside from the fact that you need to be intelligent, able bodied, able to put a sentence together in the Queen’s recognizable English and write a report in legible handwriting, there are other characteristics your examiners will be looking for when they interview you and evaluate your test results.

One of those traits would be trustworthiness. This would mean whether or not you are dependable to carry out a task that is assigned to you. In other words, do you just talk the talk or can you also walk the walk? Police recruiters will look for whether or not you have a tendency to make up stories to cover your errors or shortcomings. And, they will want to know if you will be where you are told to be and do what your commanding officer tells you to do even if the job is a really difficult one.

This is a bit of a no brainer, but another trait they want is honesty. Why? Well your word will potentially put people in jail, and your word is usually taken at face value because you are a cop. That is pretty heady stuff. Very powerful, and has the potential to be easily abused. It is crucial that you present the truth as it is, even at the cost of making yourself look like an idiot, instead of skewing the truth to make things look better for yourself.

The entire concept of honesty has so many layers that it would be difficult to completely cover in a blog entry, but ask yourself this question. Will you stand up for what is right even if it means losing the friendship and respect of other officers and your peers? This is one of the toughest questions and situations any new recruit will ever face over the course of their career. Spend time thinking about that now, because it may happen to you later.