Retire and Rejoin

Retire and Rejoin Scheme, open to all officer ranks

West Midlands Police are opening a new retire and rejoin scheme, allowing those who have or are due to retire from policing to rejoin in our demand areas.

This is to give Officers the opportunity to continue in policing and utilitise your valuable skills and experiences that you have developed as an officer.

The West Midlands is a busy, urban area offering a diverse range of communities to protect and support. Our HQ is in Birmingham, which is the youngest city in Europe - with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of the population. But it’s not all about the second city… we cover as far afield as Coventry and over to where the Black Country meets Staffordshire as well as policing six Premier League and Football League clubs.

Neighbourhood policing continues to play a significant part in tackling issues and working in partnership with our local communities. We have teams based across our patch to investigate crime and vulnerability, in our CID and Public Protection units. We have central Firearms, Operations, Offender Management, Intelligence and Professional Standards departments and work in partnership with police colleagues in the West Midlands CTU, NABIS, and the Regional Organised Crime Unit.

We serve 2.8 million people in an area rich in diversity, with around 30 per cent of its population from ethnic minority backgrounds. Our force values embody what we are, to apply you must have real passion for people and communities. You will have a desire to work alongside our local communities to build relationships and make a difference to the lives of people in the West Midlands.

And we know it’s not all about the job. The West Midlands is a great place to live too. The region offers great leisure, sport, shopping and transport options. Birmingham Airport is an international hub, served by most of the budget and major airlines. Trains from Birmingham can reach central London in less than 90 minutes and our Metro tram system is expanding too. There’s always major acts appearing at our local stadiums and arenas, big name shows visiting theatres in our major cities and vibrant nightlife across the region. There’s five Michelin starred restaurants, dozens of country parks and green space to explore and cheap house prices too. Birmingham even has more canals than Venice!

Back to our offer to you – WMP is committed to supporting all colleagues with continuous professional development, great staff offers, associations and social clubs, wellbeing support, and a comprehensive development programme across the force.

Qualifications - External

Am I eligible?

The scheme is currently only open for officers looking to return at the ranks of Constable to Inspector. Officers of a higher rank can apply but in the knowlege that they will return at a lower rank.

Officers re-joining under this scheme are required to have a minimum of 31 days break between retirement and re-appointment (to avoid potential HMRC taxation issues)

Officers must have skills and experiences that the organisation wishes to recruit/retain
Applicants will be required to have a medical and complete a job related fitness test where applicable.

If an officer/ex officer is currently under investigation then this investigation needs to conclude with a no sanction outcome before the officer/ex officer can submit an application.

Officers who have been ill-health retired are not eligible for this scheme
Officers must have served in a Home Office force or BTP to be eligible for this scheme

If you’re committed, enthusiastic and ready to join us in making the West Midlands safer place apply now.

Appointment to this role will be dependent upon successfully passing vetting, Occupational Health and fitness tests within 3 months of application, which may include a drugs test.

Candidate sifting is based on organisational needs and will take into account individual skillset and experiences. WMP reserve the right to decline candidates based on operational need.

Postings are based on business needs and consideration will be given against individual skills and experiences.

As an officer, the scheme will allow eligible police officers to retire and return to policing as a warranted officer after a minimum of a 1 month break in service. Officers who retire and then re-join are eligible to take their lump-sum and draw their pension until the point that they return. The scheme allows officers to rejoin and contribute to the 2015 scheme if they so wish.

Prospective officers and staff must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. This is to ensure that members of the police are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to them and the standards of professional behaviour they swear to uphold.

West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader - the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions. As part of our commitment we operate a ‘Disability Confident Interview Scheme’ - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview.

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job, as they would do for non-disabled applicants.

"Diversity and Inclusion Vision: Maximise the potential of people from all backgrounds through a culture of fairness and inclusion to deliver the best service for our communities"