Detective Constable Entry Programme - Starting January 2027

Start your career now with Cheshire Constabulary and let us reveal your inner Detective.  We are now open for Detective Constable recruitment for our Detective Constable Entry Route.

Before applying, please take a moment to review the key dates below. If you are unable to commit to these dates, then please consider re-applying for a future intake.

Annual leave cannot be authorised during the initial 20-week training period, full attendance is required. 

Being a Detective is not only challenging, it’s extremely rewarding. You will be the difference that helps make Cheshire safer, serve our local communities and strive to achieve the right outcome for victims and their families.  You will be responsible for solving some of the most complex cases, and no two days or even cases will be the same. One day you could be analysing, evidence, preparing for court or talking to witnesses and the other interviewing suspects or working towards safeguarding a child or an adult.

Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 - “A Detective must pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry whether they point towards or away from a suspect”.

As a Detective, you could find yourself dealing with crimes such as fraud, robbery, and serious assaults. Or you may join one of our Vulnerability Hubs, protecting the most vulnerable adults and children across Cheshire. You may have the opportunity to work within Major Crime, investigating serious crimes such as homicides, or with our Serious Organised Crime Unit tackling high-level drug importation.

This is a unique opportunity for you to be a Detective at the very start of your career with Cheshire Constabulary.  This is an intensive course, which will require commitment and dedication to both serving the public and meeting the demands of the development programme. In return, we promise a good starting salary, supportive working environment, great detective training experiences and opportunities for career progression.

The Detective Constable Entry Programme has been designed so that after the completion of your initial training period, you will undertake a 2-week Crime training course after which you will be posted into a Detective role where you will commence your detective journey alongside our qualified detectives in force.  This unique opportunity will see you becoming a fully qualified Detective Constable by the end of your 2-year probation period.

With regards to eligibility, we are interested in candidates who hold any degree level qualification.  However, applications will also be particularly welcome from candidates who hold a Level 3 qualification (two A Levels grade A*-D) in a policing or crime related subject or who have significant experience across a 3 –  5-year period of working in a Criminal Justice or Police Staff crime or investigative based role.

You must be 18 years of age by the intake date and hold a Full UK manual driving license.  Please note that if you have any tattoos, photographs MUST be uploaded in the attachment section of the application form.

We anticipate a lot of interest in this opportunity and as such the application window will remain open for a minimum of 48 hours, after which we will continually monitor the number of applications that we receive to ensure that we are able to manage the recruitment process and your candidate journey throughout this campaign.

Once we have received the number of applications required for this recruitment process, we will be closing the recruitment window and no further application form submissions will be accepted. Therefore, we strongly advise that you submit your application as soon as possible to avoid missing out!

 All dates are subject to change:

Please note - You can only apply for one entry route, if for any reason you are not eligible for the DCEP route but eligible for PCEP route you will be given the opportunity to transfer your application to the route which you are eligible for.

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