Police constable - Everton Fellini Pereira

How did you get your police job?

I applied directly to the West Midlands Police Force to be a police officer on the Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP). The whole process took around ten months.

How relevant is your degree to your law enforcement role?

I studied a Graduate Diploma in Law from the University of Law and before that, I did an undergraduate law degree in my home country of Brazil. 

My law background is very useful, as around 30% of my role involves liaising with court. This knowledge is very useful when making applications to court and referring to the relevant legislation. I feel my legal training definitely helped me to land this role.

What are your main work activities as a police constable?

I'm a police constable, on the trainee detective pathway. I currently work in the economic crime unit where we mainly investigate money laundering and fraud under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The work involves a significant degree of liaising with banks, who report particularly large deposits of cash or those which they find suspicious.

Much of our follow-up work involves doing intelligence checks on individuals and groups, executing warrants and making arrests. We also liaise with the Crime Prosecution Service (CPS) when we move for a charge decision and work with the courts when applying for account freeze orders and/or cash forfeiture orders. I work Monday to Friday but have to be ready to work weekends when last minute activities arise such as executing warrants or making arrests.

How has your role developed and what are your career ambitions?

When you first start as a constable, you rotate through different departments, which include response teams, neighbourhood policing and investigation departments. Once I completed my probation, I applied for promotion into financial crime.

My aim is to gain accreditations as a financial intelligence officer, financial investigator and confiscator, before seeking promotion to sergeant in future.

What do you enjoy most about working as a police officer?

It can be very satisfying when your work results in the seizure of a large amount of cash, knowing that this will disrupt criminality in a significant way.

What are the most challenging parts of your role?

Proving that the money is derived from criminality can be difficult. Suspicions aren't enough, and you must be able to prove the illegal source of the cash or property.

You also need to protect intelligence sources, and this means acquiring parallel evidence that can be used in court, which can take significant time.

Any words of advice for someone wanting to enter a career in policing?

I would recommend gaining experience in a role such as a special constable or police community support officer (PCSO). It's the best way to get insight into the realities of the job. Policing is a unique role, which will equip you with an excellent range of skills in communication and dealing with people in stressful situations, but there's no better way to learn than by doing it.

When applying for roles and preparing for recruitment days, it helps to make use of the range of resources available online, as this will give you a distinct advantage in terms of knowing what to expect.

For a successful career in the police, you need to be professionally curious. You need to ask yourself why people are acting in a certain way, and don't take things at face value, be willing to ask questions as the truth can often be quite different to your first impressions.

Find out more

• Explore the role of a police officer.
• Discover how to join the police.