I was surprised to see her go for that of all jobs. I think it will be very eye opening for her if she does get it. She’s had a very sheltered and lucky life and I don’t think she has any idea about the level of poverty, neglect, abuse and drug use that is “normal” to most people who come into regular contact with the police.
Whilst PCSOs do some community engagement activities, there is also a lot of standing on scenes in all weathers, often for horrific incidents. They are on foot a lot of the time, making them more vulnerable to verbal abuse than officers in cars, and it is a relatively thankless job. I don’t know what her area is like but where I live a lot of people are very anti-police. I know one PCSO who had to be medically redeployed before they even finished their training because they were hit with a scrambler bike in work and seriously injured, needing multiple surgeries and still not better. For what is required I think they are massively underpaid, and I would be surprised to see her stick it out.
I also don’t understand how she will manage the shifts around Graham’s work? They do any hours between 08:00 and 22:00 in my local force, sometimes finishing late, and Graham is obviously working all sorts of hours on the farm. When she is on lates is he going to have to drop everything to do childcare, and pay out of pocket for someone else to pick up the slack?