Pros
Starting salary is not awful.
Cons
I’d like to preface my review by acknowledging that there are some great people working for the Met, in fact, some exceptional individuals, but unfortunately, they are in the minority. That being said, I joined the Met as a PC and quickly realised that every value the Met likes to demonstrate externally doesn’t apply internally. I believe leadership is about service, not position. Unfortunately, there are poor examples of sergeants within this organisation who don’t understand this, who have big, and often fragile egos, and who treat probationers with zero respect. This problem runs deeper, it starts with the recruitment process. The bar for recruitment is low, really low. Many incompetent people join who have no business being police officers, and you often find yourself working alongside people who are a hazard to even be on the road with. There are more people leaving than joining, and the Met has concluded that they can’t afford to be selective. This is something many sergeants are aware of, and I assume it’s one reason why some of them treat probationers the way they do. Because the majority of probationers are like this, the minority who are competent and capable of being great officers, are treated badly by default. I joined because law enforcement has always been in the back of my mind. I went into it with a sense of pride, thinking I was joining a great organisation where I could make a difference. But that sense of pride fades when you’re in your cohort, look around, have a few conversations, and realise that, literally, anyone can join the Met. Lacking common sense? No problem. Extremely immature? No problem. Slow and limited? No problem. I was spoken to and treated in a disrespectful manner, and I quickly realised I wasn’t going to subject myself to that, so I left. The Met could truly be a great organisation if it addresses these internal issues. Difficult, yes. Impossible, no. Will I get to see it in this lifetime? Probably not.