- Conference
- 2022 Police & Justice Service Group Conference
- Date
- 14 June 2022
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes UNISON’s PCSO20 campaign to celebrate the 20 year-anniversary of the creation of the PCSO role.
Conference notes that PCSOs provide a highly visible police presence. They deter anti-social behaviour, provide reassurance, gather intelligence and work with businesses, schools and statutory partners to keep communities safe. PCSOs are a force for good.
People love PCSOs’ visibility, their in-depth knowledge of local areas and their approachability. The PCSO role attracted the highest ever proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic new joiners to the police service. Conference acknowledges that PCSOs are key to maintaining public confidence in policing.
Conference notes with extreme concern, however, that PCSO numbers in England have been cut by 45% since 2010. In Wales, by contrast, the Welsh Government has invested in additional PCSOs, showing very clearly that where there is political will, neighbourhood policing can be actively grown.
Conference therefore calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1)Continue to lobby the UK Government, MPs, Senedd Members, Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners, Council Leaders and Elected Mayors, to commit to support the PCSO workforce for the next 20 years;
2)Campaign for extra funding to increase PCSO numbers in England by an additional 7,600 PCSO posts to replace those lost since 2010.