This job demands your full attention and skill and so fitness must become a priority in your own time to keep up with your colleagues and new recruits. Police officers have a responsibility to the community and so it is their job to produce a high standard of performance. This career is not for the faint hearted.

If you are thinking about becoming a police officer then you must be prepared for a challenge, as this can become not just a career, but a part of your life and who you are.

Deputy Phillips said: "It is challenging because you have to go to work in the morning, afternoon and at night and you have got to be prepared to go to anything. You could go to a six-pile road traffic collision with three people dead, five people badly injured, petrol all over the road or you could go around on the beat all day and investigate burglaries that have taken place. So it's coming to work not knowing, but being prepared to face anything. You have to be mentally strong."

A person must be prepared to face situations that you would only find in your nightmares and so mental stability is essential. Deputy Phillips has had to deal with some desperate situations.

He said: "The hardest thing that a police officer ever has to do is to deliver a death message, going to someone's house to tell them that a loved one has died. You can never prejudge their reaction."

The police force does have its advantages. Deputy Phillips said: "There are some good times. When you put a lot of work into a job and you get the results at the end of it and justice is delivered. It is a good feeling."

Deputy Phillips said: "This career could be a drain on your emotions, physically and mentally and could demand more from you than other careers. It is hard, but it is not an impossible job to do." He added: " I think you need common sense and a sense of humour to become a good officer. If you have this you do not have to have a massive educational background. If you have both of these I think you could make it in the police force." So have you got what it takes?