Yes, you need to be able to accept the disciplined environment, and as a vocation it's sometimes unpleasant and makes demands on your family and social life which few other professions do. As the Edmund Davies enquiry stated, however, the police officer is unique amongst subordinates in the degree of discretion and initiative they are expected to exercise. It's challenging, interesting, varied and, above all, incredibly rewarding. I've been a Police Officer for 19 years now, and still haven't done everything the job has to offer. I became a specialist in communications fairly early on and have now moved sideways to dealing with computers as well.
Promotion also places some restrictions on ones ability to gain experience in different departments.
Having said that, I've worked on 3 different divisions, in both uniform and plain clothes departments, and have seen more of life than most people get in a lifetime, so I'm quite happy. When I joined I was living in a somewhat dubious student flat in Whalley Range, on the fringes of Moss Side. It was decided that this wasn't an ideal environment for a bobby, and so I moved to the single-men's hostel in Bury. After my initial training at Bruche I was transferred there, and spent the first 5 years of my service there, initially as a footpatrol and later as a panda and van driver. I also spent some time working in the Communications Suite there.