Sometimes being part of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary as a police officer or police community support officer is like being back at school.

I do not mean that we are subject to detention or homework, although on the odd occasion there is a need to be summoned into the sergeant's or inspector's office for one reason or another.

No, what I mean is the amount of internal and external training and learning we are constantly required to do.

On joining the police service 13 years ago I was required to attend a 10-week in-house training course at Cwmbran in Wales where I would be learning basic police skills which would equip me to go out onto the district that I would be working and be puppy walked around with my tutor constable until he or she felt I was able to look after myself and dish me out to other members of the team for routine patrol. Following on from this I was then subject to a two-year probationary period during which time I would also be expected to return to our police headquarters at Portishead to complete further training modules. At the end of the two years, provided I was competent enough, I would be signed off for independent patrol and be let out into the big world.

Now if I had thought that this was the end of my schooling then I was sadly mistaken. Following on from my probationary period I would be expected to take part and be trained in public order scenarios, basic police driving skills, and response driving, to name but a few. On top of this was the training that I would request to enhance or further my own skills base, like becoming a tutor constable, which meant more time in class or away from my station.

The nature of law itself is also a constantly changing animal and any new or revised legislation that has been introduced or is in the pipeline to be introduced also requires us to sometimes attend a day's training course or, in what has been the case recently, sit at our computer terminals and complete an electronic learning exercise.

The fact that as an organisation we are constantly looking at ways to cut waste and costs also means that a lot of paperwork which would normally have been stacked on shelves in our administration cupboards has now been replaced in an electronic format. This, for dinosaurs like me, normally requires some form of training input to allow us to operate them in the first place.

Only last week I attended a three-day training course to equip me with the necessary skills in administering what is known as restorative justice, a great initiative which will eventually save time and paperwork for the police service, but it requires us to be trained.

It may seem to the layperson that the police service spend more time and money in training officers that they do in actually allowing them to do the job they are paid for. Well I have to disagree. It is only through striving to be the best that we can actually be the best. How frustrating would it be to you if the police officer who turned up at your door didn't have the skills or knowledge base to deal with your issues?

Ongoing training, whether it be in law or applications, is essential in maintaining what to most people is the best police service in the world.

As much as I moan about having to take time out to attend training classes, I wouldn't exchange that mantle for anything.