Dedicated Football Officer
Every police recruit completes a two or three year probationary period as a general Police Constable. This gives you the skills and experience you need to progress your career. From there, you have the option to move into a huge variety of roles, including specialist positions like a Dedicated Football Officer (DFO).
Role purpose
As a DFO, you’ll play a vital role in keeping people safe at football matches and minimising anti-social behaviour, violence and criminality. Here’s a bit more about what being a DFO involves:
- You’ll prepare intelligence, develop strategies and produce logistical arrangements for policing football events.
- You’ll bring together your force, the football club and supporters in order to keep people safe at football matches.
- You’ll be deployed at football matches to observe and oversee the club’s own safety measures.
- You’ll coordinate undercover football spotters (who act as a link between the police and the club’s supporter community), including briefing them and gathering intelligence from them.
- You’ll engage with football fans at matches, supporter group meetings and via social media.
- You’ll collect evidence relating to criminal actions and to support convictions and Football Banning Orders.
- As a DFO, you’ll need experience of football operations and fan behaviour, including in-depth knowledge about your assigned football club, stadium and supporters.
It’s also really important to have a sound understanding of intelligence management and covert policing. And of course you’ll need great communication skills and the ability to engage with a wide variety of people – sometimes in volatile situations. These are all skills you’ll be able to hone during your probationary period as a Police Constable.
A successful DFO can go on to be a football policing lead within their force or take on a senior role in public order and public safety, so there’s plenty of scope for your career to progress.
Football policing is just one way your police career could take you after completing your probation. Find out more about career progression.