Who will I be with?

This depends entirely on your area of interest. For example, it may well be that you accompany an officer on the beat or observe a 999 communications specialist at Headquarters. In general terms it all depends on what you would like to observe, balanced against what is practical and realistic.

What will happen?

Complete the application form, sign a confidentiality agreement and get it to your sponsor.

You will be contacted to confirm arrangements by Sponsor

On the day you will be observing officers or staff who are fully operational. And as a consequence they may well be called to undertake other activities that may not be appropriate for you to observe. We will do our best to make other arrangements, so please be patient.

Is everyone eligible?

You have to be over 18 years of age to go out on operational patrol and you will assessed for suitability prior to your visit.

How long will it last?

It depends on you, and to a certain extent, the officers and staff you will be observing ie shift arrangements, meetings. Some participants have spent a whole shift and one spent two days. Most observations last about half a day.

Is it safe?

All Ride Along observations are risk-assessed, along with a hefty dose of common sense! Please listen carefully to all instructions given by the officers or staff.

What to do next

Simply ask the officer who gave you the leaflet to make arrangements to get the forms to you. They will act as your sponsor and know who to contact to organise the observation under the The Ride Along Scheme. Your thoughts, ideas and feedback on what you observe are welcome - we have found the scheme greatly enhances the participant’s knowledge of policing and the police’s knowledge of the community.