‘Being in CID opens a lot of doors’

27 January 2021

Moving to CID has given DC David Garner the chance to develop himself and to broaden his experience of policing.

David felt he needed a new role after spending nearly 12 years on response.

And he says working in CID brings with it the chance to learn and to develop.

David, interviewed as part of a month-long Federation focus on the role of detectives, said: “I needed a change and saw a career in CID as a way of developing myself. It opens up a lot of doors in the police service and enables you to learn so much more than you would on response.”

He added: “The most rewarding thing about what I do is being able to help people and being able to learn new techniques in order to better investigate crime and give victims a better service.”

David says he joined the police “to have a career for life”.

“And because I enjoy talking to people and helping people,” he added.

David said that he may return to a uniform role as part of a promotion plan.

“But I’m unsure if I would stay in uniform long-term,” he explained, “Working on CID has opened my eyes to how much there is to learn about a whole new side of policing, a side you rarely get to see when working in uniform.”

Currently based at Kidderminster reactive CID, David said the biggest challenge in his role is spending more time on a computer and less time out in the public.

“It’s personal preference,” he said, “There are opportunities to go out as much as you like really. And when a job comes in as reactive CID you can go to the job and be proactive.”

David said the pandemic has had an impact on the way he currently works.

“I work from home on certain days and this is a benefit,” he said, “I can achieve just as much at home as I can in the office. If needed, I can be at work in a short amount of time.

“I’ve coped well with it,” he added, "I’m quite a calm person with my work, and the workload is not too much that I ever feel under pressure.

“There is enough time available in the day to manage the workload and deal with live incidents when required.”