Detention Officer

Hampshire County Council; Newport; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government agency in the UK is seeking Detention Officers for a permanent full-time role, starting at £30,333 per annum. Responsibilities include supporting custody colleagues and ensuring the safety and professionalism of detainees. Candidates should have good communication skills, resilience, and must be educated to QCF Level 3 A-levels or equivalent, along with a full manual driving license. This diverse role offers unique challenges and growth opportunities within the criminal justice system.

Qualifications

• Must have a full manual driving license.
• Experience in a similar role is advantageous.
• Ability to monitor detainee behavior and assist with investigative procedures.

Responsibilities

• Provide support to custody colleagues and care for detainees within the custody environment.
• Take fingerprints, photographs, and DNA samples.
• Ensure safety and security of personnel in the custody suite.

Skills

Good communication skills

People skills

Resilience

Education

Educated to QCF Level 3 A-levels or equivalent

Job description

Detention Officer February 2026 Awareness Sessions - HC623239

We will start recruiting for an exciting and diverse role of Detention Officers within custody. We are holding a number of awareness sessions to give potential applicants a chance to find out more about this role.

These events will provide you with information and an insight into the role, its duties and expectations, as well as information on the recruitment process. The sessions will be run by recruitment and central custody adviser who has extensive experience of the role.

If you consider yourself a resilient individual who has good communication and people skills, where you are able to be challenged as an individual but also work well within a team of like-minded colleagues and would like a rewarding role, where no two days are the same… then book your space and find out more.

There will be roles available in Southampton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight & Basingstoke. All the roles will be permanent & full-time at 37 hours per week. Detention Officers are paid, starting salary £30,333 per annum in addition you will receive a shift allowance and weekend enhancement which will add approximately £800 (depending on shifts worked) to your salary before tax per month. You will be required to work a shift pattern, comprising of evenings and weekends. Further information will be included in awareness session.

If you are interested in applying for this role, please click on the link of your preferred date to book a space via Eventbrite on one of the Awareness Sessions being held in February (please only book one time slot).

Thursday 19 February 2026 at 18:30 – 19:30pm

Saturday 21 February 2026 at 10:00 – 11:00am

Please note you will be sent a link for Microsoft Teams prior to your booked event. You will then attend the session remotely. There is no need to attend in person. If there are no available spaces on your preferred date, please send an email to [e-mail].

Please note that you must provide evidence of education and driving licence at interview stage.

Everything will be covered in the awareness session and you will have the opportunity to ask questions.

As a Detention Officer you will be based in one of our Police Investigation Centres, where you are an integral part of the running of the custody suite. You will provide support to your custody colleagues, also proving a high level of care and professionalism to those detained within the custody environment.

Detention Officers are uniformed support staff workers given certain Policing Powers within custody to execute your duties and deliver a high level of service.

Due to the complex environment you\'ll need to be alert at all times, thinking on your feet and making informed decisions. You\'ll complete the booking in process into the custody suite and some of the duties but not limited to are, the taking of fingerprints, photographs and DNA, record their possessions and make sure they\'re safe and secure. During their time in custody, you\'ll regularly monitor a detainee’s condition and behaviour, where necessary assist with investigative procedures and preservation of evidence whilst maintaining the safety and security of all personnel within the custody suite.

Assisting in the detainee rights and entitlements, also assisting the custody sergeant in the release, when required, of the detainee.

Successful candidates will undertake a minimum of six – seven week training course (Monday – Friday), which is assessed throughout. You will receive training on all aspects of your role and where it sits within the Criminal Justice System, police IT & systems, personal safety training and emergency first aid.

You will need to be Educated to QCF Level 3 A-levels (or equivalent) OR work experience deemed to have brought the post-holder to a comparable level.

Applicants must have a full manual driving licence and although you’ll be posted to one of our custody centres there may on occasions be a requirement to work at other locations which could include Portsmouth, Southampton, Basingstoke or the Isle of Wight.

Please note that you must provide evidence of education and driving licence at interview stage.

Everything will be covered in the awareness session and you will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is an inclusive employer and strives to have a workforce representative of the communities we police and serve. We recognise that we are not fully representative and are working to address this imbalance through a variety of initiatives.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is an equal opportunities employer that positively promotes flexible working, enabling officers and staff to achieve a healthy work-life balance whilst meeting operational requirements of the constabulary. We actively encourage applications to be made on a full time, part time or flexible working basis.

The Equality Act 2010 allows us to promote equality within Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary by adopting Positive Action to support people from under-represented groups. Our aim is to recruit talented people with a diverse range of skills and experience and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our Positive Action team are available to provide support through the application and assessment process by contacting: [e-mail]

The Disability Confident campaign aims to remove barriers, increase understanding and ensure that people have opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations. We will accommodate requests for reasonable adjustments where possible throughout our recruitment and promotions processes and encourage anyone requiring reasonable adjustments to disclose this at the earliest opportunity.