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When Clare Ball joined policing in her thirties as a single mum, she believed the opportunity had passed her by. More than two decades later, Clare is a Detective Inspector investigating rape and serious sexual assaults with Avon and Somerset Police’s Operation Bluestone team. Looking back, she believes the experiences she gained before joining the service ultimately became one of her greatest strengths, shaping not only the way she investigated cases but also the way she leads people.
Speaking to Emergency Services Times as part of our #SheServesToo campaign, she reflects on finding policing later in life, building confidence in a profession she once thought she had missed and why creating space for officers to speak openly has become central to her leadership.
Finding policing later in life
Clare had wanted to become a police officer from a young age, but life took her in a different direction. She built a career elsewhere, got married and eventually found herself raising her daughter alone after her marriage broke down. By then, she assumed the career she had once imagined was no longer realistic.
It was only after a conversation with the mother of a close friend that policing came back onto her radar. Encouraged to join the Special Constabulary, Clare signed up in 2001 while working part time as a van driver around childcare commitments.
“At that point in my life, I genuinely thought I’d missed my chance to join policing. I was a single mum, driving vans part time because it fitted around childcare, and I remember thinking, ‘What am I doing here? I don’t belong here.’ But it didn’t take long before I realised I’d found exactly where I was meant to be.”
Clare Ball, Detective Inspector, Avon and Somerset Police.
Joining the Special Constabulary reignited an ambition she thought she had left behind and gave her the confidence to apply as a regular officer.
‘Life experience counts for an awful lot’
Clare joined Avon and Somerset Police full time at the age of 34. As the oldest recruit in her training cohort and the only parent, she admits there were moments when she questioned whether she belonged, particularly surrounded by younger graduate entrants.
Looking back, though, she believes those differences gave her a perspective that proved invaluable once she began working with victims and families experiencing trauma.
“I was lucky because I had my parents around to help with childcare, but I know a lot of people don’t have that support network. There were a lot of graduate entrants and I remember feeling quite intimidated at first, but I realised life experience counts for an awful lot in this job.”
Rather than seeing those experiences as something that set her apart, Clare came to view them as one of the greatest strengths she brought into policing. The ability to communicate with people from all backgrounds, particularly during some of the most difficult moments of their lives, became one of the aspects of the role she valued most.
“You can be academically brilliant, but policing is about far more than passing exams. So much of the job comes down to understanding people. There were times when victims would tell me, ‘You don’t understand,’ but because of what I’d experienced in my own life, I often understood more than they expected.”
It also became clear that the work she enjoyed most wasn’t necessarily the image many people associate with policing. Rather than the excitement of emergency driving or blue light response, Clare found herself drawn to investigations and supporting victims, something that ultimately led her into the detective pathway.
Leading with empathy
Over the following two decades, Clare progressed through a range of investigative and leadership roles before becoming Detective Inspector within the Bluestone team.
As her responsibilities grew, so too did her thinking about leadership. Rather than creating distance between herself and her colleagues, she wanted to build an environment where officers felt able to ask for help before problems escalated.
She describes spending as much time walking the office floor, listening to conversations and checking in with staff as she does managing performance, believing the everyday interactions between supervisors and their teams play a significant role in shaping workplace culture.
“Leadership is about being human and I never wanted to be the sort of boss people felt frightened of. I walk the floor constantly because you can usually tell when somebody’s struggling long before they actually say it. Culture starts with how people feel at work every single day and whether they feel respected, supported and safe enough to speak honestly.”
That philosophy eventually developed into what colleagues now know as ‘Clare’s Clinics’ – informal sessions where officers and staff can talk openly about whatever may be affecting them, whether that is a difficult investigation or challenges outside work.
The sessions have become an established part of the team’s culture, encouraging conversations that might otherwise never happen and helping people seek support before reaching crisis point.
“People don’t always come through the door because they’re struggling with work. Sometimes it’s because something’s happening at home, they’re grieving or they’re simply carrying more than anyone realises. Policing can be emotionally demanding, and I think we often underestimate the weight people are carrying when they come to work each day.”
Clare believes creating that space has helped improve wellbeing within her teams, while her own experiences of divorce, bereavement and single parenthood have reinforced her belief that compassion and accountability should sit side by side.
‘You haven’t missed your chance’
Reflecting on policing today, Clare believes there is still more work to do to make the profession genuinely accessible for women and parents. Childcare remains one of the biggest barriers, she says, while greater flexibility would make policing a more realistic career for many people.
She also believes the service benefits from attracting people with a wide range of experiences rather than expecting everyone to follow the same path into the profession. It is perhaps why her message to anyone wondering whether they have left it too late to join policing is so simple.
“You absolutely haven’t missed your chance. Life happens. People go through divorce, bereavement, raise families or take a completely different path before they ever think about policing. None of that should stop you. If anything, those experiences can become some of your greatest strengths, and policing needs people who’ve lived a bit of life first.”
To read similar articles, check out our People and skills channel.
This article is part of #SheServesToo, our campaign celebrating the stories of women across the emergency services. #SheServesToo is proudly supported by PBI. Find out more about PBI and its work here. If you have a story to share, get in touch with the EST team.
