Sergeant Keith Osbourne

I have been a police officer since July 2017 and I became a sergeant in January 2020. 

I grew up in Edmonton, London, where my family still live. I have always been into psychology and how people’s minds work, which brought me to Cambridge to study psychology and criminology at Anglia Ruskin University. This experience, as well as my interest in this area, led me to consider becoming a detective and it was a primary motivation for applying for the police.

Growing up in London I came across the police various times in my teenage years but never thought it was for someone like me as I didn’t see anyone who looked like myself wearing the uniform. Where I am from the police were an organisation to be feared and were not seen as positive for my community.

This led me to having major reservations about joining the force as I wondered what my friends and family would think of my career choice and how I would be received by my wider community. However, after speaking with the people close to me, I knew I had their support and that is what mattered the most.

I also saw it as my responsibility to represent my community within the police and help in any way I could to improve their experience with police and be a voice for my community within the force.

For someone who had no links with the police I found the recruitment difficult to navigate and failed the first-time round, which was disheartening, however, I applied again six months later and this time bought some books online specifically about the recruitment process and was successful.

I enjoyed the training process and got a better understanding of the law and how it is applied. My teacher Steve Flack was very helpful and supportive when I had welfare issues that needed dealing with.

What I love the most about my current role is developing the current and new officers on my team to be the best officers they can be for the force and the community we serve.

There are many areas you can pick up skills from, such as proactive work, intel gathering, interview techniques. Being able to provide the direction and the environment for my team to achieve these things is what motivates me.

I have worked in numerous roles and in different sectors and I would say that being a police officer is by far the best role I’ve had. It can be very rewarding if you put the work in.

There are so many different areas of the organisation that I believe anyone could find an area that works best for them.

Keith Osbourne