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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:26 pm
Time: 11:26 pm
Results for volunteers in policing (u.k.)
1 results foundAuthor: National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA, UK) Title: Special Constabulary National Strategy Implementation Advice Summary: The Special Constabulary is a part-time, volunteer body consisting of officers with full police powers. Officers are available mainly in the evening and at weekends except in times of emergency. It has a long and impressive history and has recently benefited significantly from increased interest and investment. Numbers have grown over the past two years with considerable direct support from the Home Office, and this represents a major success for the Home Office decision to provide ring-fenced funding for the Capacity Growth Initiative. At the end of March 2007 the numbers were 14,021, or about 9% of the number of full time equivalent regular officers. The Special Constabulary is far more representative of the community than the Regular Police Service - not only by gender and ethnic background but by socio-economic group. Recruitment is further strengthening diversity, but even at this point 32% are female (compared with 21% for regular officers) and 6% are from ethnic minorities (compared with 3.5% for regular officers). The Special Constabulary is therefore an excellent bridge between the Police Service and the public, representing both the community within the Police Service and the Police Service within the community. Special Constables are highly cost-effective - the total cost per duty hour is estimated at $3.40 in the first two years and less than $3 per hour after that, or about 10% of the hourly cost of a regular officer and a fraction of the cost of a Community Support Officer. The environment in which the Special Constabulary operates is changing rapidly. New entities such as PCSOs, Highways Agency Traffic Officers, Vehicle Inspectorate Staff and even private security firms are taking over roles traditionally carried out by police officers. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency is now in place to deal with national threats to the community. Initiatives such as Neighbourhood Policing are transforming the way services are delivered locally. Against that background, a team of Special Chief Officers was given the task of determining whether there is a role for the Special Constabulary in this new structure and, if so, what that role should be. The team worked with representatives of the Home Office, ACPO, HMIC and the Neighbourhood Policing Project team, but this is essentially a Special Constabulary strategy for the Special Constabulary. The basic premise of the approach used is that the demand for policing services can be analysed like any other 'market' and providers of service can be considered in the same way as 'suppliers' in other markets. The demand for police services seems to be an expanding market with no apparent limit to its growth. However, like any other market it has recognisable segments and niches. While real progress is being made in most segments others are under-resourced and performance levels in these are not good enough to satisfy public demand. The Special Constabulary can be a key part of the solution in tackling these segments and improving both operating performance and public satisfaction with the police. As a business proposition the Special Constabulary is difficult to beat. Not only is it extraordinarily cost-effective, but it is more representative of the community (socio-economic groups and businesses) than any other body delivering policing services. It therefore brings greater involvement and improved communication with members of the public and the business community. Specials can act as a positive force for change - bringing with them an extensive pool of skills, talents, experience and local knowledge and diverse backgrounds - as well as enhancing the level of service provided by the police. The opportunity is described in this Report and Chief Officers are encouraged to use it to see the Special Constabulary in their respective Forces as a strategic resource to improve performance - wherever the need is greatest and the fit with the Special Constabulary's strengths is greatest. Details: London: NPIA, 2010. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2015 at: http://www.online.police.uk/en/docs/Imp_Strategy_updated.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.online.police.uk/en/docs/Imp_Strategy_updated.pdf Shelf Number: 145418 Keywords: Minority GroupsPolice OfficersSpecial ConstablesVolunteers in Policing (U.K.) |