Completing a BA in Journalism at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) followed by a Master’s in Diplomacy is not what most people would consider a traditional route into the police force.
But Philippa Blakeley would not have it any other way.
The PC at Leicestershire Police is currently starring in the latest series of BBC Three’s Fresh Cops -a winner of a Royal Television Society award - which follows young officers round the clock and shows viewers the daily challenges they face.
PC Philippa Blakeley is appearing in BBC Three's Fresh Cops
Philippa, who completed a BA (Hons) in Journalism in 2022 and her Master’s in Diplomacy in 2023 has no doubt the officer that people see on their screens would not be there if it wasn’t for her four years of study at DMU.
“I know my time at DMU has helped me so much,” she explains. “I loved it from day one. A lot of what I do in the police is talking to people and working through a scenario with them. These are skills I harnessed with the journalism side. I feel I can talk to anyone and get as much information as possible to help.
“Speaking with victims and making them comfortable is a very similar quality to pursuing a news story.
“The writing side has helped because I don’t think people realise how much paper work there is to do and how detailed you have to be.
“Quite a lot of what I did in my master’s was sitting in large groups and holding conversations, trying to get my point across in such a way that people will listen to me, acknowledge what I am saying and understand me.
“My degree and my master’s may seem unrelated now but they taught me so many wider skills which I don’t think I would have developed otherwise.”
As well as acquiring knowledge and life skills, Philippa says completing her master’s also meant she had time to make important decisions about what she wanted from life.
“The master’s was full on and intense but it gave me the time to decide exactly what it was that I wanted to do,” Philippa says.
“I applied to be a Special in the police force and worked part-time alongside my degree and I knew this was what I enjoyed and I was developing a real passion for it.
“It just made sense to me that I should be a police officer. I enjoyed talking to people, working as part of a team and investigating.”
Philippa was called up to star in Fresh Cops just weeks after starting her career with Leicestershire Police in March 2023 after somewhat reluctantly taking a screen test.
She says: “Jenny in Fresh Cops was my mentor and she told me about it. I did the screen test and there I was, three weeks into my career working alongside a film crew.”
“It was ridiculous,” she laughs. “I was moving from a 9 to 5 job to doing shifts starting at the crack of dawn or through the middle of the night and I was being filmed. It was intense but I enjoyed it far more than I ever thought I would.
PC Blakeley (left) with fellow officers who appear in the programme
“Looking back now it was a real privilege. I can remember exactly how I felt when I watch the incidents back on the TV and I can also see how much I have progressed within the police force and personally.
“My colleagues have even said how much I have developed in my career and I feel like a completely different person to what I was when filming started.”
The most memorable moment for Philippa came in episode two of the new series.
RELATED NEWS
Discover what you're made of - come to the next DMU Open Day
Find out more about DMU Journalism
DMU's MA in Investigative Journalism supported by Channel 4
“This bloke was wanted for criminal damage and he ran away from us Jenny and I had to chase after him on foot and then put him in handcuffs. He was trying to bite us and kick out at us and it was chaos. But looking back at that scene in the programme I realised I was totally in control.
“People talk a lot about the physical side of policing and you do ask ‘am I strong enough and fit enough to cope’. But I thought ‘you know what Phil you can do this’. Just because I am not 6ft tall and broad shouldered it doesn’t mean I am any less capable.”
So would Philippa recommend policing as a career for other DMU students.
“If someone was to ask me about joining the police force, I would say ‘just do it’. It has definitely changed my life for the better. For me, it is the feeling of being part of the police family that I enjoy and the variety. No two days are the same. It is a career like no other.
“My aspiration is to be a good police officer and remain as a police officer for as long as I feel I am learning and developing. That is something which is really important to me.
“I want to try everything out – such as working in traffic, or in the dog handling team, or in firearms and detective work - as we have the opportunities to do that and I want to see which aspects of these jobs I really enjoy.
“I want to do that over the next five years and then make a more informed decision about how I see my career progressing in the force.”
Philippa, who is originally from Bradford, added: “Coming to Leicester and joining DMU is where my life took a turn for the better. The lecturers gave me so much confidence and even during COVID I received so much support and was able to perform at my absolute best. MY confidence has improved massively. If I were to go back to school now the teachers would not recognise me and that was all down to the four years that I spent at DMU.”
It is not the first time a DMU grad has featured in Fresh Cops. Khadeeja Mansur was in series one and has also been a part of an ongoing project to trial an operational police hijab for Muslim officers. She said at the time that she wanted to act as a role model for others.
Posted on Monday 19 February 2024