Beauty expert turns hand to fighting crime (From The Oxford Times)

Beauty expert turns hand to fighting crime

7:00am Saturday 31st July 2010 in

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IN ONE line of work mother-of-four Sharon Hagen deals with manicures and eyelash extensions, and in the other, handcuffs and pepper spray.

For the past four years, the 44-year-old has given up between 40 and 70 hours a month to work as an unpaid Special Inspector for Thames Valley Police.

But she makes her living as a beauty therapist from her home in Abingdon, and at Philip Day Hairdressing, in Mill Street, Wantage.

She says a day in her life can take in everything from waxing and pedicures to handling drunks and cases of sudden death.

She said: “From doing somebody’s nails to aiding someone who has been beaten up, it’s a big difference. One job involves chasing people through the undergrowth and the other is very serene.

“My beauty clients say: ‘How can you go from painting someone’s nails to dealing with a road accident’? But that’s the excitement of the job. You don’t know what you’re going to get on a day-to-day basis. It’s fun.”

Thames Valley Police is currently recruiting extra Special Constables.

Ch Insp Andy Boyd said: “We want people with the physical and mental endurance to finish their day job and then begin a shift with a completely different set of challenges.”

• For more details of the Special Constabulary, see youdrawtheline.co.uk