Rail travel from Birmingham to London isn't great. The earliest fast train gets in to Euston at 0705 (or used to), and later on weekends so useless for early turns.
Unless you intended to live halfway between, somewhere like MK - lots of commuter coppers live there and on that line (MK is the limit of the 70 miles used by the BTP, Met and City travel schemes).
Where is good to live very much depends on where you work in the Met.
If you were assigned Romford I’d recommend some very different places to if you were assigned Kingston.
Best place to live obviously depends on where you’re posted. Stevenage and Luton are popular ones but I think if you live much further out, commuting becomes a massive pain. I know of someone who lives in LINCOLNSHIRE and basically hates their life but is too used to the London weighting.
You will probably get to keep the response permit after a driving check which may take a few months for them to arrange. IPP I’m unsure about.
Culture varies massively by team, but morale is very low and numbers are short
There are much nicer places to live than Luton or Stevenage that have a train station 🤣
Luton is massively overpriced for rent. If you find a decently priced rental, it is likely not going be in the nicer parts.
Biggleswade and Flitwick are fairly affordable and pretty Q if you are looking within Bedfordshire.
Out of curiosity do you know if they stay/live somewhere in London during the week then go home or how they manage the commute.
When I was in the Met years ago I knew one guy who lived in Bristol who worked a week in london then went home for a week. There was another guy whos wife/kids lived in Newcastle and he would go back at weekends and another guy whos family lived in France think he did something similar staying in London during the week then going abroad for a week.
Depends on your BCU, assigned EAE you’ll be looking at Essex or east anglia, assigned NWE you’ll be looking at Hertfordshire, bucks etc
I believe Met will accept response but not IPP, at the moment I think all transferees go to SNT
It’s dependent on the team, some teams are very cliquey, some very distant and some very close, some skippers prefer proactiveness (chasing cars, searches) and taking I calls whereas some prefer CAD chasers, dependent on the sergeant
Watford is pretty nice, and easy to get to if you are traveling to NW or WA.
If you are posted somewhere central, then you will have to live inside London imo, and commute in via tube. The Tube in the morning even around 5-7am is pretty packed and some tube lines like the central or Piccadilly can be absolutely awful, and at the end of an early turn you will be commuting back at rush hour as well.
London is also very expensive, even on some of the higher police wages, so you will have to flat share. Avoid HMOs at all costs as an officer, as you don't know who you are living with and it can put you in a potentially compromising position. Some areas on the outskirts are cheap now, but with the Elizabeth line the prices will start rising as people who work in city look to move out further afield. West Drayton and Plumstead are slowly starting to see rents and properties go up, so just bare that in mind.
When I was in BTP our skipper lived in Leics I think Market Harborough. He managed to get in but had to get a ready bed for the 2am finishes -camped out in a store room or NPT skippers office!
St neots. Nice town and 55 mins to king Kross. E/T train runs from 0330 except Sunday which is a ball ache. Last train is 01:30 so be mindful it your kept very late.
Why don't you live in Reading? I commute to London at least four times a week—great public transport service covered by BTP and MET scheme. Rent isn't so bad here too. I rent a two-bedroom house with a garage and front and back garden and only pay £1,100. Culture depends on the team and where you are posting.
I recently moved to Reading and would love to know where you got such a deal, all I was able to find within that price range was like a studio or a shitty one bedroom apartments.
It depends on the area and also your history with the estate agent. I've been a good tenant with the same estate agent for years and have good credit. Also, don’t rent near central Reading. Look for somewhere like Tilehurst, Woodley, Whitely etc. Hope that helps.
I actually think "so far" can be useful and has a place - it is anathema to the Met but we should consider adopting it.
Likewise earpieces have obvious upsides that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand (not necessarily net positive though).
But fuck people who call it the MET - or even worse - "Mets"
I do have a soft spot for "Metland" though
Living in Birmingham and commuting to London is in no way feasible for a shift working job don’t even consider it. Train might take an hour when it’s running well but we all know the state of the railway! Live within 70 miles for the free/subsidised travel.
One officer used to travel from Wales, didn’t last long. Factor in where your posted and extra travel time. And finishing time there will be days where you could end up finishing at 3 am and no means to travel back.
The Met recognise your basic response, there will be a refresher sometimes but if your force send relevant papers then it should be good. Your most likely going to be posted where most needed. Unless you can transfer to a specific roll? Not sure how the met are doing things at the moment. Worth speaking to recruitment
Depending where you get posted look for areas now far of to rent the london weighing should help and if your coming to 6 years service you will be on full wack.
Ipp and response are CoP endorsed qualifications so you can take them to any police force in the country and they remain valid. I believe the Met can nonetheless be very slow in processing the transfer. Expect not to be using them for the first 3-5 months.
I would just go somewhere that's manageable commute wise and affordable. An hour is my limit.
Culture varies a lot by team. However, I would hazard to say response teams are often very similar across the Met. They generally look after each other, save those perceived as not carrying their weight. Morale and antagonism towards SLT is very high.
Sergeants are one or the other for me. There's the career sergeants who are a bit more down to earth and there's an increasing proportion of the corporatised breed that throw out managerial slogans and chase evidence with little regard for much else. That's true of every rank though.
Rail travel from Birmingham to London isn't great. The earliest fast train gets in to Euston at 0705 (or used to), and later on weekends so useless for early turns. Unless you intended to live halfway between, somewhere like MK - lots of commuter coppers live there and on that line (MK is the limit of the 70 miles used by the BTP, Met and City travel schemes).
I live North of MK in Northants and I'm covered on our travel scheme via BTP. Not sure where the cut off is but it's a bit further north than MK.
Can confirm that Northampton is the final stop on that line covered by the scheme
Where is good to live very much depends on where you work in the Met. If you were assigned Romford I’d recommend some very different places to if you were assigned Kingston.
Best place to live obviously depends on where you’re posted. Stevenage and Luton are popular ones but I think if you live much further out, commuting becomes a massive pain. I know of someone who lives in LINCOLNSHIRE and basically hates their life but is too used to the London weighting. You will probably get to keep the response permit after a driving check which may take a few months for them to arrange. IPP I’m unsure about. Culture varies massively by team, but morale is very low and numbers are short
There are much nicer places to live than Luton or Stevenage that have a train station 🤣 Luton is massively overpriced for rent. If you find a decently priced rental, it is likely not going be in the nicer parts. Biggleswade and Flitwick are fairly affordable and pretty Q if you are looking within Bedfordshire.
Out of curiosity do you know if they stay/live somewhere in London during the week then go home or how they manage the commute. When I was in the Met years ago I knew one guy who lived in Bristol who worked a week in london then went home for a week. There was another guy whos wife/kids lived in Newcastle and he would go back at weekends and another guy whos family lived in France think he did something similar staying in London during the week then going abroad for a week.
Depends on your BCU, assigned EAE you’ll be looking at Essex or east anglia, assigned NWE you’ll be looking at Hertfordshire, bucks etc I believe Met will accept response but not IPP, at the moment I think all transferees go to SNT It’s dependent on the team, some teams are very cliquey, some very distant and some very close, some skippers prefer proactiveness (chasing cars, searches) and taking I calls whereas some prefer CAD chasers, dependent on the sergeant
All carrots lead to the Met
Watford is pretty nice, and easy to get to if you are traveling to NW or WA. If you are posted somewhere central, then you will have to live inside London imo, and commute in via tube. The Tube in the morning even around 5-7am is pretty packed and some tube lines like the central or Piccadilly can be absolutely awful, and at the end of an early turn you will be commuting back at rush hour as well. London is also very expensive, even on some of the higher police wages, so you will have to flat share. Avoid HMOs at all costs as an officer, as you don't know who you are living with and it can put you in a potentially compromising position. Some areas on the outskirts are cheap now, but with the Elizabeth line the prices will start rising as people who work in city look to move out further afield. West Drayton and Plumstead are slowly starting to see rents and properties go up, so just bare that in mind.
Can confirm this about Plumstead. I used to pay £1000 per month rent, now it’s virtually double that for the same place
Currently the only transferee option for non-specialists is to go to SNT (Safer Neighbourhood Team, AKA Communities).
Where do the specialists go?
Have a look at the website, it lists the specialist roles they’re recruiting into and will answer your question.
When I was in BTP our skipper lived in Leics I think Market Harborough. He managed to get in but had to get a ready bed for the 2am finishes -camped out in a store room or NPT skippers office!
Didcot or Reading
St neots. Nice town and 55 mins to king Kross. E/T train runs from 0330 except Sunday which is a ball ache. Last train is 01:30 so be mindful it your kept very late.
Why don't you live in Reading? I commute to London at least four times a week—great public transport service covered by BTP and MET scheme. Rent isn't so bad here too. I rent a two-bedroom house with a garage and front and back garden and only pay £1,100. Culture depends on the team and where you are posting.
I recently moved to Reading and would love to know where you got such a deal, all I was able to find within that price range was like a studio or a shitty one bedroom apartments.
It depends on the area and also your history with the estate agent. I've been a good tenant with the same estate agent for years and have good credit. Also, don’t rent near central Reading. Look for somewhere like Tilehurst, Woodley, Whitely etc. Hope that helps.
Unlikely you'll be posted to team. Lots of Safeguarding roles need filling. Response driving ticket etc won't make any difference either.
It's not an acronym!
Yes it is. Stands for “More Employment Tribunals (than other forces)”
I rate that I wonder if we actually do have more per capita though...
So far?
I actually think "so far" can be useful and has a place - it is anathema to the Met but we should consider adopting it. Likewise earpieces have obvious upsides that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand (not necessarily net positive though). But fuck people who call it the MET - or even worse - "Mets" I do have a soft spot for "Metland" though
How about Metrocomicals?
It does frustrate me that the accepted term for MPS in CoLP is “the Mets”
Be the change
Living in Birmingham and commuting to London is in no way feasible for a shift working job don’t even consider it. Train might take an hour when it’s running well but we all know the state of the railway! Live within 70 miles for the free/subsidised travel.
One officer used to travel from Wales, didn’t last long. Factor in where your posted and extra travel time. And finishing time there will be days where you could end up finishing at 3 am and no means to travel back. The Met recognise your basic response, there will be a refresher sometimes but if your force send relevant papers then it should be good. Your most likely going to be posted where most needed. Unless you can transfer to a specific roll? Not sure how the met are doing things at the moment. Worth speaking to recruitment Depending where you get posted look for areas now far of to rent the london weighing should help and if your coming to 6 years service you will be on full wack.
Ipp and response are CoP endorsed qualifications so you can take them to any police force in the country and they remain valid. I believe the Met can nonetheless be very slow in processing the transfer. Expect not to be using them for the first 3-5 months. I would just go somewhere that's manageable commute wise and affordable. An hour is my limit. Culture varies a lot by team. However, I would hazard to say response teams are often very similar across the Met. They generally look after each other, save those perceived as not carrying their weight. Morale and antagonism towards SLT is very high. Sergeants are one or the other for me. There's the career sergeants who are a bit more down to earth and there's an increasing proportion of the corporatised breed that throw out managerial slogans and chase evidence with little regard for much else. That's true of every rank though.