Former pupil Scott Hamer returned to Bolton School, virtually, to deliver a talk to Year 12 and Year 13 students of the Boys’ Division about his career in the police force and in personal protection.
Scott told how he chose to leave Bolton School in 1989, aged 16, in order to follow his childhood dream of working in the police force. Looking back on his school days, he told how he came from a family of butchers on Chorley Old Road and that there had probably been half an expectation that he might follow in his father’s footsteps. He told how an Assisted Place had allowed him to study at Bolton School and that his best subjects had been French, German and Sport; all of which had proved useful in his work.
After a year at ICI he was old enough to enrol as a cadet with the London Metropolitan Police and he went on to spend thirteen years as a PC and Sergeant, working out of Paddington Green and Ilford Police Stations. He then moved on to become an Inspector and Close Protection Officer. This role saw him help deliver security for the likes of Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and the then Prince of Wales who is now King Charles III. Whilst, in some ways, he fell into this role, he said he was well suited to it as he enjoyed meeting people and foreign travel; he told how it had allowed him to visit over 50 countries, although often to places you might not generally go to on holiday such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda and Sudan.
Scott spoke about delivering security during the London Olympics, Commonwealth Games and his current position as a Security Strategist at The Royal Albert Hall. The main difference these days in his role, he said, is that he is not just involved with the last ring of security but all rings of security!
As ever, the students asked a variety of probing questions, including how did you make the move from PC to Inspector, what’s the King actually like, how did your skill base change to enable you to undertake your later roles, have you trained with the armed forces, what are the most challenging situations you have found yourself in, what was it like working for the Met in the 90s, has your career been rewarding and do you sometimes have to detach yourself from the role?
