Passion for policing lands new detective her dream role

A new detective has spoken about fulfilling a lifelong ambition after taking up her dream role in the police.

Despite joining Nottinghamshire Police three years ago as a police constable, becoming a detective has always been the end goal for Detective Constable Victoria Katilu.

And she has gone on to make that dream a reality after recently passing the training course needed to become a detective in St Ann’s Police Station’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

“I’ve always wanted to be a detective ever since I was a young girl,” she said.

“A few incidents happened in my family back in Kenya that made me very curious about investigations and my dream was always to be a detective one day, one time. I’m very passionate about just helping people and – being a detective – you’re dealing with serious and complex investigations.

“These are incidents that really affect families, so just helping people, giving them closure and just showing them compassion are all very important to me and that’s why I love the idea of being a detective.

“Finally I’m here, so this is like a dream come true in terms of what I always wanted to be, so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”  

By her own admission, DC Katilu’s journey to her dream job has been a bit of a rocky one, with the former PC admitting to questioning whether a career in the police was for her after experiencing some challenges at work.

But after speaking to colleagues at Nottinghamshire Police and receiving the support she needed, DC Katilu decided to stay and try and become a detective – recently passing her national investigators' exam (NIE) with flying colours.

She said:

“I’ll be honest, when I joined the police, I experienced some challenges when I was a police constable.

“At some points, I actually wanted to leave because I was just questioning myself and I wasn’t sure whether I should continue.

“I thought maybe I should just stop and try something else, so I’m glad for the help that I got as it got me to where I am.

“Otherwise, without that support, I might have just left, and I’d not be here, happy that I’m finally doing the job that I always wanted to do.”

She added:

“I’d like to encourage officers out there, police constables who have interests in being a detective, to just give it a go.

“My background is computing and I’m sure at some point in my journey as a detective, I’ll be able to use those skills to improve my work.

“I have a masters degree in digital forensics and I look forward to applying my skills and becoming a valuable resource to Nottinghamshire Police.

“There are many, many opportunities once you become a detective – the sky is the limit!”

Chief Superintendent Suk Verma, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:

“I first met Victoria when she was at training school and her passion and enthusiasm shone through.

“It was a real privilege and pleasure to see just how much she cared about policing and how much she wanted to be a police officer.

“I'm aware that there have been some challenges Victoria has faced, like many of us have, in regards to some of the challenges around culture and inclusivity.

“But thankfully, Victoria is still with the organisation, she is still thriving, and I was really proud and privileged to see her recently at our joint headquarters where she was undertaking her detectives' and investigators' course.

“Her passion and enthusiasm, and her drive to be a detective is something that I think we ought to applaud as an organisation.”

DC Katilu decided to talk about her policing story as part of Black History Month, which runs throughout October.

Nottinghamshire Police recently started providing mandatory Black history training for all its officers and staff, with DC Katilu emphasising the importance of educating people about this part of the past, as well as the challenges experienced by Black people today.

She said:

“Black History Month is very important to me but it shouldn’t just be a month really, it should be something that we are continually celebrating and more organisations should just take it upon themselves to learn and educate themselves about Black culture.

“I’m very pleased that Nottinghamshire Police is doing training on Black history because I know it’ll be very useful in helping people to better understand the culture, heritage, and values of Black people, as well as this history.”

Anyone who works for Nottinghamshire Police and wants to explore opportunities to be a detective is urged to contact Detective Inspector Ed Cook. Anyone from outside the force who wants to register an expression of interest can also do so at the Nottinghamshire Police website at: https://eoi.notts.police.uk/