Joht_Chandan_WMP
Dr Joht Chandan

Dr Joht Chandan regularly swaps his stethoscope for solving crime after helping to break new ground as a West Midlands Police Special Constable – and qualify as a detective!

Joht, a public health registrar, police volunteer and Academic Clinical Fellow, has a part-time hobby working in technology and programming. 

Always keen to enjoy a challenge, 26-year-old Joht initially volunteered with the Metropolitan Police Service in 2011 alongside a demanding schedule at University College London Medical School. Two years ago he signed up as a volunteer with West Midlands Police and now plays an important role in assisting the force’s Public Protection Unit. 

“I am now part of an incredibly professional and hardworking team in Ladywood supported by an experienced leadership team. It was immediately apparent that the skills taken from a clinical background in medicine such as history taking and communication, were directly transferable into an investigative setting”.  

And he’s believed to be the first active Special in UK Policing to pass the national standard detective exam.

Joht became one of the first Specials to work alongside the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, which plays a vital role in protecting young people from neglect and maltreatment. The combination of day job as a doctor and volunteer duties in this area has prompted him to start working on a PhD in his spare time: exploring the effects of child abuse and domestic violence with a view to becoming a consultant specialising in violence prevention.

As an Academic Clinical Fellow based in the Universities of Warwick and Birmingham, Joht’s primary interest focuses on public health matters involving forensic, clinical and legal areas of medicine.  Secondary areas of interest relate to primary care, digital health and medical technology.  This last stems from his fascination in working with computers and operating systems and has led to him creating mobile applications for study, utilising this knowledge on large datasets which he uses for his doctoral research.

Mike Rogers, Chief Officer of Police Specials, said: “I think this is an amazing achievement by Joht and I congratulate him…Like many Specials he works hard to support WMP while performing a demanding day time job and fitting in a family life.”

All of which rather proves the theory that if you want something doing, ask a busy person!