2162jim

Hi, I'm a serving police officer from the UK wanting to apply to NZ. I understand the pay is poor and the drop in my salary will be substantial. I'd really appreciate to hear from anyone who has transfered in the last 6-18 months to discuss some of the issues they faced.

Many Thanks

dboy

Canada might be a better option, if you are intending on staying in law enforcement that is. I've found that both OZ and NZ are poorly paid for policing, compared to Canada (i work for the rcmp just outside of Vancouver in BC ).

Having said that, when moving abroad you have to go as much for the lifestyle as much as the job.

There are some threads for Calgary and Edmonton police who do hire from the UK and grant entry at the 5 year member rate, which is somewhere around $76,000 Can per year. Check out the following threads:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=79

http://www.joineps.ca/ApplicationPro...pplicants.aspx

Tomsk

Hi, I'm married to an ex-UK cop who transferred to the NZ police on their Feb 08 conversion course. I can't really comment on the work, I know for sure that he grumbles about the paperwork and feels that a lot of it is unnecessary...but that's just the way they do it here. Otherwise crime & criminals are pretty much the same the world over, he's not found too many differences in that side of the job. Pay's not great, although it was better for those who transferred on the conversion courses because they got prior service recognised. Starting out as a new recruit the pay is pretty terrible I believe. Unfortunately, as I understand it NZPol have no more conversion courses planned, although apparently they've said that one before, so it's worth keeping a look out
Don't know if you've found the website for police looking to emigrate overseas, I'll try & dig out the link for you because there's a lot of useful info there for you.

dboy

Yep paperwork and villians are much the same the world over in policing. However, pay in Canada is a lot higher. A Cpl with 7 years for instance would earn around $86,000 per year (closer to 90,000 in plain clothes) - no overtime (with standard over time it could easily be over 100,000). In NZ dollars that's around 120,000.

Most of the forces in Canada recognise previous experience in the pay scales. As i said though its not all about money, but i think when you uproot and move halfway across the world, you have to give it real consideration.

Genesis

I am ex plod from the UK and I was amazed at how poor the pay is over here. In the UK I earned about 30% more than my wife a senior nurse with 15 years in..over here nurses and plod have parity at a similar level of service. It was about $55k 4 years ago with my 10 years service recognised (but not the 3 stripes). Police pay on its own (without income from another partner) will not afford you a decent lifestyle unless you are mortgage free or have minimum rent/mortgage payments. My last annual wage back in 2004 was about $95k (taken at the exchange rate of 2.7) for a skippers lot (new to the stripes but with 10 years of increments). Decided not to join as I had heard too many negatives about the job over here and that I had lost the 'urge' to do the job. Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery happy with my decision. May I suggest you research this topic to death?? Make the move with much care. Have you considered the Oz plod???

dboy

Same in Canada as far as nursing goes, they are pretty close, as are firefighters. Overtime in Canada is a good deal with most at double and even triple time for stat holidays.