Pedro Innecco

A few weeks ago, a dear person asked me a question: “when was the last time that you felt happy with yourself, by your own doings – regardless of others?”

The answer came in instinctively: “When I became a Special Constable for London’s Metropolitan Police”. One weekend of 2007 we had a crisis, in which several of us worked from Friday to Sunday, including me. I just slept five hours on Saturday and then I came back to work. I reckon I worked about 36 to 40 hours that weekend. On Sunday morning I had to take a night bus back to North Finchley, then walk all the way to East Finchley where I used to live. I arrived home about 05:00 or 06:00 am. My feet were hurting so bad and my eyes were burning due to the lack of sleep. And as I took off my boots and went to bed, I thought of all the good work we have done that weekend. I never worked so hard yet I never felt such sense of accomplishment before – I was happy with myself.

Being a Special Constable is one of the best decisions I have ever taken in my life. It was more than a volunteer work. To me it was a great honour. But as I went to live abroad, I had to resign from the MET; But G-d how I miss being a cop. Particularly on those weekends when nothing is happening and you are just staying home. I wish I was on the beat helping people in need. London was my home for nine years and I will always have a space in my heart for it.

If you live in the UK and you wish to do something good for your community, if you have that sense of duty in your heart, if you like helping people and being a good person, then I strongly recommend that you consider joining the Special Constabulary. It doesn’t need to be London’s Metropolitan Police, as there are Special Constabularies in every police service in the UK. Trust me. If you are of a good character, this experience will change your life for good – forever.

For more information, you can visit this website.