Could you?

Well, I thought I could, but I was unceremoniously informed that simply being an upstanding-citizen-and-all-round-good-person is not enough to join this particular police volunteer program. I was prepared, willing and able to give up all my spare time to do my bit. Psyched even. I filled in the form with serious thought and consideration, lined up the appropriate referees, and waited in anticipation for the acceptance letter and details of my first assignment. Alas, when I received the letter, it was to tell me that I had to have been living in the UK for 3 years to even be considered. When I queried it, no one was able to provide me with an explanation as to why. "Those are the rules." Apparently.