Gabby’s path to policing

Gabby Shackles is putting the skills she developed during her BA (Hons) in Professional Policing into action as a Police Constable with the British Transport Police.

Preparing for success

During her studies Gabby was encouraged to take part in work experience where she completed a stint at a Special Constable with Derbyshire Police, which Gabby credits with helping her apply her skills in a real-world setting: “It helped me to understand legislation on a general basis, as well as how policing works in the real world. It was also a good opportunity for me to assess whether I wanted to be a police officer as my full-time job.”

Gabby was also supported by the academic team on the degree, who were able to bring their insight and experience from their policing careers into the classroom:

“The lecturers were brilliant and very supportive. Most of them had been police officers themselves, which meant any questions could be answered, or if they didn’t know, they knew someone who did. Having lecturers who have worked in the field also prepares you in a way because they can advise based on their experience of the job that I wanted to go into.”

Teaching that makes an impact

British Transport Police are actively working to prevent and address all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) across the rail network, a cause that Gabby was already familiar with from the topics studied on her degree:

“The protection and vulnerability units at University helped me to understand the full extent of the problem and the approaches to police it. I was able to talk a lot about VAWG during my interview, which I believed helped me to secure my role.”

A rewarding career

When looking to the future and how her career could develop, Gabby says:

“At the moment, I am really enjoying being on response, and I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. There are a lot of avenues to explore in policing, whether it is specialising into an area/unit, or going for promotion, I have plenty of time to decide exactly what it is that I want to do!”

Gabby credits her degree for helping to preparing her to start her graduate role and as a solid basis to build her career.