Mark Gordon has been with the Met now
for three and a half years. He joined as a
graduate in Politics from the University of
London and works as a member of Police
staff. He applied via an advert in the
Guardian for an Intelligence Analyst as he
found himself intrigued by the role and the
potential it offered.
Getting involved in the Met
I chose to apply for the Met because I wanted
to do something that would make a real
difference to people's lives – something
worthwhile, something to be proud of.
It wasn't purely an altruistic choice –
the role appealed to me intellectually
and emotionally.
I think the Met looks for people with the
skills that are required for the role, not
necessarily the experience – particularly in a
role like mine. There's also a personal set of
qualities you need to demonstrate. After all,
whatever you're doing with or for the Met,
you're helping in some way to make London
a safer place. That's a big responsibility and
one you need to think about before you apply.
It matters.
My role
An Intelligence Analyst is basically, someone
who provides insight and inference into crime,
crime pattern and crime trends. I answer
questions and piece together puzzles,
presenting my findings to officers of all
ranks. They act upon my information to solve
crimes, anticipate threats, protect communities
and serve Londoners. I make a difference –
even though I'm not in the front-line.
When you work for the Met you understand
more about what uniformed police do and
why they do it. That understanding helps me
put my role into a more meaningful context.
It also helps me appreciate the fact that I'm
part of a 50,000-strong Met community
whose purpose is to reflect, protect and serve
the much wider community of London. It's a
very big team, but it's still a team.
The skills you need
The key skills for my role are that you've got
to be an analytical thinker; you've got to be
able to see the bigger picture in everything
you do. You've also got to be a good
communicator. And, most importantly,
you've got to be able to get on with people –
and that means anybody and everybody. If
you can honestly say that you've got that kind
of personality, and that making a difference
makes a difference to you, there's no better job.
The opportunities the Met offers
Within this job you will have the opportunity
to transfer into many different areas of
expertise in ways that one couldn't
necessarily do in the private sector or, for that
matter, other public sector organisations.
You can really experience a lot of different
aspects and also the Met is a very flexible
employer. You've got flexible hours you can
work, compressed hours, flexi time etc.
One thing I've learnt from the Police service
is a respect for diversity. Every day, directly
or indirectly, I'm engaging with people from
every faith and race; I'm interacting with
communities with a thousand different
interests, agendas and concerns; and I'm
learning something about someone, or
somewhere, that's new to me.
The application process for my job was
straightforward but fairly tough. I guess it has
to be. There's a lot at stake and a lot of
responsibility riding on any job with the Met.
The flip side of that is the training once
you've joined. It couldn't be better.Again, it's
tough and you have to work at it, but the skills
you learn – and the people you meet and
learn from – are for life, not just a job.
I think one of the most interesting and, to me,
surprising things about the Met is the
integration within the organisation. That you
can easily be transferred from one role to
another and you'll be accepted just as equally
as you were before. There isn't really a big
division between officers and staff.
Obviously in terms of the roles and the
powers you have they're different but in terms
of working relationships I work with
Constables, Sergeants and Inspectors – and
we all work together as a team, uniformed
and non-uniformed alike.
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