- Conference
- 2014 Police & Justice Conference
- Date
- 25 June 2014
- Decision
- Carried
Conference we are concerned about the recruitment of Volunteer Police Community Support Officers. These volunteers will be in full uniform and working alongside regular employed Police Community Support Officers (PCSO). They will not have the same powers as the PCSOs but will have the same core objectives and responsibilities.
The main concerns are:
1)They have no statutory powers;
2)They are not able to patrol independently so employed PCSOs will have to mentor and patrol with them;
3)According to a local newspaper the initial cost in one force is 1.8million which could be used for employed staff;
4)Potential health and safety issues.
Conference calls upon the SGE to
a)Step up the campaign against the use of volunteer PCSOs of any nature within the police and justice family;
b)Raise this issue at national level with the police minister and the College of Policing.