Ride Along Scheme
The Thames Valley Police Ride Along scheme offers members of the public the chance to join our officers on patrol and experience policing at first-hand.
You’ll get a practical insight into police work, find out what it’s like to be an officer on a shift and develop an understanding of how we protect the communities we serve.
This scheme allows us to build and strengthen our relationships with the public.
It’s also provides a valuable opportunity for anyone thinking about a career in policing to find out more about what we do.
Who the scheme is open to
Anyone aged 18 or over who lives in Thames Valley and wants to see what we do.
You’ll also need to pass our security checks. Previous convictions or cautions will not automatically exclude you from going on a ride-along. If you’re rejected, you’ll get an email explaining why, including your right to appeal.
Police partners or staff
Thames Valley Police partners or members of staff can also apply to go on a ride-along. If you have existing vetting clearance, you will not need further criminal record checks. To apply, just click on the ‘Apply online’ button below to complete our online form. You can tell us in the form about your partnership or staff position with us.
Who you can choose to ride with
You can join officers from these units:
- Incident and Crime Response (ICR): these officers go to emergency calls, such as burglary or assaults. Going out with this unit might mean you have to get into and out of a police vehicle quickly, sit or stand for long periods of time or be around loud noises.
- Neighbourhood Policing Team (NHPT): officers work together with the local community and partners to prevent and reduce crime, disorder, community harm and anti-social behaviour.
- Roads Policing Team: these officers police the road network, going to serious collisions and incidents.
- Thames Valley Police Special Constabulary: special constables are volunteer police officers who play a vital role in protecting our communities. They have the same authority and responsibilities as regular police officers and work in a variety of roles.
What to expect
You'll get an insight into what it’s like to be a police officer on a shift and you’ll have a chance to speak to officers on a one-to-one basis.
You’ll get a greater knowledge of how we police, including, for example, how we conduct a stop and search.
Officers work shifts of between 8 and 10 hours and often have to work beyond those hours. The length of your ride-along will be agreed at the start but expect to be flexible.
At the end of the ride-along we’ll ask for your feedback as a member of the communities we serve.
We may need to end a ride-along because of emergency situations or specific police work.
When the ride-along scheme is in demand
During periods of high demand, spaces on this scheme will be limited. Where possible, we’ll offer you an alternative date.
During periods of peak demand we’ll suspend the scheme and any applications we get during these times will be declined. We’ll send you an email explaining this and you’ll be able to reapply at another time.
Terms and conditions
Before applying, please read this information. It explains terms and conditions you must follow to participate in the ride-along scheme.
You must:
- let us know if you need any adjustments for medical, mobility or other conditions
- agree to the confidentiality agreement in our online application form
- agree to the participant briefing sheet, this will be given to you on the day of the ride-along
- at all times, follow any instructions given to you by the police officer who’ll be with you during the ride-along
- be aware that as you might be close to live police work, you may be recorded on police body-worn cameras.
- understand that we reserve the right to refuse participation in this scheme and to terminate the ride-along at any point
- agree that we can keep your personal and ethnicity information for seven years, in line with our data retention policies; this will apply even if you withdraw your application, or your application is refused
How to apply
By completing our online form, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions for the scheme.
We will only accept one application per person in any 12 month period.
Thames Valley Police is committed to running an inclusive scheme for all the communities we serve and protect.
We look forward to seeing you.