As part of our #BeyondTheBadge scheme, we went to find out more about Police Constable Ben Stafford.

"I’ve always worked in industries that serve the public. Before I joined the police I worked in teaching and volunteered with Saint John Ambulance.

Lots of skills from teaching help you as a police officer: compassion, de-escalation and communicating. If you can talk to a group of thirty students, you can talk to a member of the public.

I fell out of love with education and a friend said there were jobs in contact management as a control operator, this went hand in hand with my St John Ambulance experience of being in the control room at large events.

I loved the job but wanted to be on the other side of the radio. I spent two and half years listening to cops dealing with incidents and thought ‘I can do that.’ I moved to become a PCSO and then joined as a PC.

There are lots of opportunities with the police. It’s not always a case of moving up, but instead stepping sideways. I now work in the training team, which has a shift pattern that works with my personal circumstances.

In all my roles, teamwork has been important. I think any police officer will tell you that your team has got your back, regardless of where you work, your role or your team we don’t like to see each other struggle.

Policing is a job like no other, and no two days are the same. It’s not your typical Monday to Friday job; we see things that other people will never see in their lifetime. Some of those things can be quite a privilege.

Most people don’t like to call the police and will only call us when they really need us. It’s a privilege to be there to help them.”