Most people’s new year’s resolutions are destined to fail at the first hurdle.

So instead of falling short of those bold promises to lose weight, quit smoking or cut back on the booze, why not tackle a rather different challenge this year?

Herfordshire’s police force is asking you to consider a very different resolution by joining its volunteer arm, known as the specials, and help them keep your community safe.

Kebba Jobe has spent the last 19 years volunteering in the specials and thinks it’s great fun and a fantastic way to give something back.

Kebba, who lives in Henlow, is a service manager for London Underground and did at one point consider joining the regular police force before opting to volunteer in his spare time instead.

The 40-year-old said: “I know it sounds really corny but I joined because I wanted to make a difference.

“It comes down to the fact that when you are out on the beat, you are dealing with incidents where regardless of how small the issue, you are going to make a difference.

“It could be as trivial as someone asking you for directions or as serious as helping a victim of crime to deal with what has just happened to them.

“In the end I decided not to go into the regular police but I still wanted a connection with it.

“The specials gave me that perfect balance of being able to go out and help people in my community in my spare time and still do my day job.

“It’s something I would recommend to anyone.”

Kebba was the inspector in charge of specials in North Herts until recently, but decided to step down to focus on getting out on patrol.

He said: “I ended up spending a lot of time in the office doing paperwork and that wasn’t why I joined.

“Now I’m spending around 90 per cent of my time out on the streets. I do around 40 hours a month, which is more than I need to do but then I enjoy it so much.”

And Kebba reveals that the job’s not without its excitement.

He was patrolling with fellow special constable Ian Bailey in Letchworth last year when the pair spotted a moped being illegally ridden on a pavement.

They approached the man who ran off and in the following chase they ended coming across a cannabis factory in a house.

“It was a great catch,” he said. “The person who owned the moped ended up getting it back and we managed to seize some drugs, cash and ended up arresting the dealer.

“I can’t say I don’t love it, otherwise I wouldn’t have signed up and spent so long as a special.”

Applicants have to be 18 or over and able to give up at least 16 hours a month.

To find out more visit www.herts.police.uk/specials