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'Where we stand' - Their view on Specials
Despite the commitment to raise police numbers to their highest levels,
many people still feel there is a long way to go to achieve anything like
the visible policing they want. This is why the Police Federation is backing
the drive to raise the numbers of the Special Constabulary who have been helping
regular officers on a part-time, unpaid basis for many years. They help swell
the number of police uniforms on the streets and provide valuable assistance to
their full-time colleagues. Police trained, wearing police uniforms and having
the same powers as regular officers, they undertake a wide range of tasks from taking
the lead in serious accidents to organising neighbourhood watch schemes and
carrying out patrols.
Only one in five people, surveyed by the Audit Commission as part of a report on
police performance, said they were satisfied with the levels of police patrol
in their area. The 80 per cent dissatisfaction rate expressed by the public about
the lack of police visibility on the streets is not new as similar results, in
previous Audit Commission reports, bear witness. While levels of concern, in the
past have mirrored the reality of falling numbers, the tide is now turning.
Recruitment figures are today improving and the Government has promised to increase
police numbers to 130,000 by the end of this Parliament.
The duties of Specials can be as varied as ordinary officers but, as with their
regular police colleagues, their recruitment and retention levels have been dropping.
Increasingly busy lives have meant fewer people are volunteering to assist the police
and it is becoming harder for forces to recruit Specials. With an assurance that Special
Constables are not being used to 'plug and gap' in forces depleted of regular
officers and with police modernisation underway regarding greater police visibility,
the Police Federation is now calling for Specials to be paid. The Federation believes
the time has come to offer an appropriate financial reward for their time and effort
and to act as an incentive to reward commitment and improve retention. Fair remuneration
might also spur on to join, those already considering this.
Taken from Police Federation web site www.polfed.org
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SC's set to join the Federation
National committee representatives of the Police Federation of England and
Wales are to recommend that Special Constables can become members of the Federation.
They will table the move to their own members at the Police Federation annual conference next month
in Blackpool, following a successful feasibility study investigating the practicalities of
including Specials as part of an extended police family.
It is expected that delegates will endorse the suggestion after they supported the idea in
principle last year, pending a study to investigate the possibility.
If approved, the part-time volunteers will be able to subscribe in the same way as full-time
officers and be given the same legal protection, advice, support and member benefits that
regular officers receive. Through the Federation, they will be able to influence their future
terms and conditions.
Commenting on the decision, Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation, said: "Specials
have played and continue to play an important role assisting regular police officers and
helping their local communities. The time is right to support their commitment and recognise
the valuable work they do."
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