To help you get to know the people that make up Derbyshire Constabulary we have been taking you #BeyondTheBadge.

We spoke to Stuart Marston-Smith, an Investigation Officer in our South Division:

“I didn’t always want to be a Police Officer. After studying Physiotherapy I taught PE for 8 years, but it wasn’t really right for me, then I entered The Great British Bake Off as a springboard to do something different.

I’d always enjoyed watching cop shows, so next I started to think about policing. What I like about my work now is that it really is about ‘doing the right thing’, using your initiative to get the job done. During training someone said to me to treat a victim the way you’d want your grandmother to be treated. That stuck with me and I always try to keep it in mind.

The shift work really suits me. It means I have several days off in a row to spend time with family, so the work life balance is great. The force accepts that we have lives outside our jobs and they make sure it works for you.

Something you don’t see on the tv is that 98% of the arrests we make are of compliant people, you don’t have a fight with everyone you deal with. When there are difficult cases though, there’s a support network, through managers and counselling. My team keep an eye out for each other as well, they are like an extension of family, I don’t think I was expecting that.

I’ve never had the chance to get bored, there is always something new or the chance to ask for an attachment to another section. I have spent time in a few other teams, it’s like a mini work experience to see if the job suits you.

At the end of my shift I hand over to the next team, knowing it’s in safe hands, which allows me to switch off from work mode. I used to dread going into work, knowing what the day was going to be like. Now there’s something new every day and I look forward to starting my shift.”