Forensic Collision Investigator Constable
Applications are invited from Police Constables who have passed their probationary period.External candidates will only be accepted from Home Office forces.
This is an excellent opportunity to become part of the Forensic Collision Investigation Unit which provides an operational service to both Durham Constabulary and Cleveland Police in a collaborative unit based at Wynyard Police Station.
We are recruiting into this highly specialised role and are looking for a dedicated individual with the skills to undertake accurate and detailed forensic collision scene investigations, who is to develop skills to reconstruct collision scenes, conduct mechanical vehicle examinations and produce expert reports that will be presented as an expert witness in both Criminal and Coronial courts.
This role is to provide a professional and impartial forensic collision investigation service. You will be required to attend the collision scenes, have responsibility for capturing the forensic evidence available before interpreting it into an evidential format and presenting expert witness testimony. When deployed the role is outside and operational both daytime and nighttime on the roadside in sorts of inclement weather, therefore, the successful candidate will be able to work with minimal supervision, be highly motivated and can deal with difficult situations.
As a Forensic Collision Investigator, you will need emotional resilience to deal with distressing situations, tragically some of the incidents you attend will involve fatalities, some which may still be at the scene and although you will be provided occupational health and post incident support, emotional resilience is a key essential criterion. You may also be required to attend postmortems, often briefing the Home Office Pathologist or meet with the family of the deceased, if required.
You must be capable of passing applicable Forensic Collision Investigation academic studies, coursework, examinations and subsequent essential courses. Please note that this does include maths and physics to A Level standard on the academic courses. The candidate must be conversant with computer operating systems together with the ability to learn dedicated FCI forensic device usage alongside computer software relating to collision investigation. Successful applicants will be expected to complete training at national external locations.
As part of the regulatory standards it is essential that the successful candidate holds a full current UK / European driving license.
Selection in the first instance will be in the form of a paper sift, followed by a mathematics examination and competency interview.
Applicants will be expected to contribute with a flexible approach to the designated 24/7 shift pattern which includes an on-call function.
Due to the intensity of the initial / on-going training and the impact to a small working team, applicants who hold other disciplines e.g. firearms/PSU/Taser/Search team will be expected to allow this to lapse.
Given the specialist nature of the role and the length of time it takes to train and invest in newer members of the team, we expect dedication to the role for a minimum of 5 years.
The successful candidate will have to attend a 4-week residential course (Mon-Fri) within West Yorkshire starting 8th September, and this is non-negotiable.