It’s always interesting to see how hacks shape up in the field.

Going away with the Army or doing the odd assault course is generally par for the course in any reporter’s career.

But the police? Easy! Surely?

A major police recruitment campaign, Pride Not Prejudice, is under way in Cambridgeshire, aimed at recruiting up to 160 officers.

From now, and for the next 10 months, the force needs to recruit 16 officers a month to get on target.

But what does it take to become a modern police officer? The initial recruitment test is tough – not many jobs require you to have on your CV the physical strength to handle a violent drunk or a ruthless criminal.

The Peterborough Evening Telegraph dispatched features editor Peter Rook to police headquarters in Huntingdon to see if he could fit the bill.

He told Telegraph readers how never before had such a sorry hotch-potch of hacks from newspapers, TV and radio been assembled in one room.

Their mission impossible was to pass the first stage of the Cambridgeshire police recruitment programme. It was merely professional pride at stake for the journos but Peter gave his all.

He said: “We were to undergo a shortened, watered-down version of the Police Initial Recruitment Test.

“Our examiner-in-chief, wet nurse, confidante and self-confessed ‘smiling assassin’ for the day was Sergeant Jonathan Aveling, himself a former electrician.

“Our first task was a written test which grilled us on our grammar, scrutinised our ability to spot errors, and brought back the spectre of my schooldays and CSE maths exams. Somehow I managed to squeak through.

“To test our observation skills we were then shown short video clips of a crime and asked to recall details from it.

“In the practice run, we proved more Clouseau than Cracker. Every one of us spectacularly failed to spot a crime being committed before our very eyes. And the fitness test was still to come.

“The rules of the fitness test are harsh but fair. If you fail one part, you fail the lot.

“We were put through our paces with an endurance test – and three fellow journos fell by the wayside.

“Next was the speed and agility course, and then we were tested on the strength of our grip. After all, when it came to feeling an offender’s collar, you don’t want them literally slipping through your fingers. We all passed, but the dreaded press-ups claimed some casualties.

“The number of press-up each wannabe recruit has to complete is based on weight and arm length. The heavier you are and the longer your arms, the less press-ups you do (cue jokes about the “long arm of the law”).

“The theory is that if you had to grab hold of an offender, you could use your weight as well as your strength to hold them. Therefore the lighter you are, the stronger you would have to be.

“One hack who flunked it said he would return 30 stone heavier next time so he’d only have to complete one press-up. I pointed out the fatal flaw in his cunning plan.

“You wouldn’t complete the endurance test without a coronary,” I said.

“It was tough going on the girls who had to stretch every sinew to complete about 10 more press-ups than the men.

“A spot of role playing was to be our final task. It was a mock interview with a man who had just witnessed a daylight robbery. Our aim was to get as much information out of him as possible in five minutes, something journalists should be good at.

“Guess who didn’t ask him his address? I wasn’t the only one. One hapless hack forgot to ask his name. Tut tut.

“It was then time for the de-brief. Sgt Aveling would usually only speak to would-be recruits individually, but on this occasion we were told our results together. I passed. I was stunned. Someone later suggested that the thin blue line just got a little bit thicker. I’m not sure if she was referring to my waistline or brain capacity.”

He explained to his Peterborough Telegraph readers how it costs more than £60,000 to train each bobby and put them on the beat. And that doesn’t include the cost of ongoing training following two year’s probation.

A lot of money – and at the end of it all not every candidate makes it, or sticks life within the force once they come face-to-face with the harsh realities of the job.

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