New police constables start work in Rochdale

Amy Robinson and Joseph Lucas are amongst ten new recruits at the Rochdale division

Amy Lander, 25, and Joseph Lucas, 24, are amongst ten new recruits at the Rochdale division and are both keen to get to work having already fulfilled voluntary roles within GMP.

Amy Lander was one of the volunteers from across Greater Manchester who were recognised at GMP’s annual Citizens in Policing Awards in June this year, and was the Special Constabulary Individual Award winner.

PC Lander, from Ramsbottom, Bury, has worked as special constable in Rochdale for the last three years and explained her progression to the new role: “I started off by going to Loughborough University where I got a degree in criminology and social policy, and then I did a masters at Manchester University in crime and law.

“From that, I had a natural interest in crime, the police and the community, and I was promoted to special sergeant last October after I had been a special constable. I got a police staff role in Rochdale last November and was also a local resolution officer.”

PC Lucas, who worked as Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) for over two years across Trafford, Altrincham and Sale, revealed how he was inspired to become a police officer: “I’ve always wanted to be in the police since I was young. My sister-in-law’s mother was a PCSO, so I spoke to her about what she does. He explained the engagement in the community and said she felt she could provide some really good help for people who needed it, so that’s what sold it to me.

“I became a PCSO and through doing that I just felt like I wanted to be a proper police officer so I could be a bit more hands on. Officers can deal with jobs more effectively than a PCSO can.”

PC Lander stressed the importance of working with partnership agencies and other members of staff, such as PCSOs and special constables: “We’re looking to improve our partnerships with agencies so that we can provide a better service through them as well.

“We need to reach out and make the most of our resources by working together and signposting people to relevant agencies which can reduce the demand on the police.”

PC Lucas drew on his prior experience of working with partnership agencies: “Our partnership agencies have a lot of powers that can help us to do our jobs. I’ve worked quite frequently with housing associations in the past because we’ve struggled to eradicate certain issues related to them.

“Speaking to housing associations can really get to the heart of a problem, because a lot of the time they know who’s involved with that problem and where they live, so that kind of information can be very helpful for us.”

Both recruits are looking forward to starting in their new role, as PC Lander emphasised: “I love being based in Rochdale so I’m happy that I’m staying here. I just love being a part of GMP because of what it represents and how everyone works together.

“This intake is going to make a massive difference, so everyone at Rochdale is so excited to get some new faces and more bodies in, too.”