This is a unique opportunity to take on a key operational role within the Royal St Helena Police Service on Ascension Island. Working closely with and supporting the Police Inspector, you’ll help provide effective day-to-day supervision, maintain high professional standards and ensure the team delivers a responsive and community-focused policing service. You’ll be a visible and approachable presence for both colleagues and the wider community, offering guidance, making sound operational decisions and helping officers develop their skills and confidence. This is a varied, hands-on role for an experienced Sergeant who enjoys supporting leadership, strengthening a team and making a genuine difference within a close-knit island community.
What you’ll do:
You’ll lead and support police officers and staff, ensuring the team delivers a professional and compassionate response
to incidents, crime and community concerns. You’ll manage operational priorities, supervise investigations, assess risk
and coordinate responses to serious incidents. You’ll also build strong relationships with the community and partner
organisations, coach your team and identify practical ways to improve the service.
What you’ll bring:
You’ll be a UK Home Office-qualified Sergeant with experience at that rank, or equivalent or higher. Being PIP 1 trained
is desirable. You’ll bring broad operational experience, including response, neighbourhood policing, investigations,
custody and partnership working, together with a working knowledge of PACE. You’ll be a calm and supportive leader
who can make sound decisions under pressure, manage risk and give clear direction. You’ll also be adaptable,
approachable and committed to safeguarding, equality and high professional standards. A full driving licence is essential,
while firearms or Taser training would be an advantage.
MAIN DUTIES:
The duties of a Police Sergeant shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
• Plan, manage and monitor complex front line and/or specialist operational policing activity managing competing demands and priorities to make informed deployment decisions and ensure best use of available resources.
• Provide appropriate initial and ongoing supervision to a wide range of incidents that may include complex and confrontational situations, assessing immediate risk, threat and harm to determine a proportionate response in line with the law, policy and guidance.
• Effectively engage with victims, witnesses, suspects and the vulnerable, in accordance with equality, diversity and human rights considerations, to provide initial support, direct towards relevant services, establish relationships and gather information that prevents and reduces crimes.
• Develop and maintain relationships with communities and multi-agency partners to drive collaboration and inform policing priorities and plans.
• Manage the initial response to major and/or critical incidents, in alignment with relevant frameworks and guidance, ensuring appropriate resource allocation and risk management to enable effective service delivery.
• Manage team budgets, monitor and review expenditure to ensure best use of available resources and value for money.
• Manage staff providing clear tasking in accordance with operational policing plans and priorities to provide an efficient and effective response to problems, incidents and crime.
• Maintain awareness of potential and actual risks to individuals, taking appropriate action to protect and support those in need of public protection to pre-empt or effectively address safety / vulnerability issues.
• Conduct/Supervise effective and efficient priority and high-volume investigations as required in line with standards of investigation to inform the development of high quality case files and initiation of criminal justice proceedings.
• Gather and handle information, intelligence, and evidence, from a variety of sources, in line
with legislation, policies and guidance, taking the appropriate action to support investigations, law enforcement and criminal justice proceedings.
• Interview victims, witnesses and suspects in relation to appropriate crimes and investigations, to gather information that has the potential to support law enforcement objectives.
• Ensuring that standards of professional practice are maintained in line with policies, regulations and legislation and the Royal St Helena Police Service’s Values and Code of Ethics.
• Analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of existing processes and practices within area of work in order to identify and implement opportunities for change and innovation, promote best practice and enable improvement, problem solving approaches and evidence based policing within teams.
• Conduct first line analysis of information, intelligence and evidence to determine significance, generate lines of enquiry, inform decision making and support evidence based policing.
• Support staff to build evidence of their progress and competence and develop action plans for their professional development.
• During period of the Police Inspector’s absence, undertake the following roles for Ascension Island:
1) Emergency Planning Officer;
2) Superintendent of Prisons, in accordance with the Prisons (Ascension) Ordinance, 1960;
3) Chief Immigration Officer, as required, working together with the Administrator of
Ascension Island in relation to Entry Control; and
4) Licensing Officer and to supervise the register of vehicles and advise post office staff,
driving examiners and motor vehicle examiners.
In addition to their primary duties, the Sergeant may also be required to perform the following roles
in support of Police Service operations:
• Custody duties
• Events planning and command
• Duties Management
SPECIAL CONDITIONS:
Additional special conditions include:
• Working unsociable hours, weekends and public holidays.
• Dealing with traumatic situations i.e. tragic deaths etc.
• Work in adverse weather conditions, including situations at night where there is poor visibility.
• Deal with violent and dangerous people.
• Will be expected to wear police uniform, which will be provided.
• As a police officer the Police Ordinance puts certain restrictions on your private life whilst you
are a police officer.
COMPETENCY AND VALUES FRAMEWORK (CVF)
All roles are expected to know, understand and act within the ethics and values of the Royal St Helena
Police Service.
The Policing Competency and Values Framework (CVF) has six competencies that are clustered into
three groups. Under each competency are three levels that show what behaviours will look like in
practice.
Skills: UK Home Office-qualified Sergeant
Professions: Law enforcement