The arrested development of Police Community Support officers
Some police officers have always been sceptical of the effectiveness of PCSOs and argue that the public is ill-served by supposed police officers who do not have the same training as full officers and fewer powers.
The Police Federation has accused the Labour Government of undermining the role of constable and “policing on the cheap”.
Earlier this year a report found that PCSOs accounted for more than half of all police staff gross misconduct cases during the last financial year despite only making up about a fifth of the workforce.
Senior officers at Scotland Yard – Britain’s largest force – found its PCSOs were bored and unmotivated in a review prompted after they found a disproportionate number of staff were being disciplined. They discovered PCSOs were most often sacked or reprimanded for criminal offences, including drinking and driving and other motoring crimes.
In October 2009, figures revealed that PCSOs are disciplined at twice the rate of rank-and-file police. The statistics, uncovered after a Freedom of Information request, showed that last year 359 PCSOs were disciplined, including 10 charged with criminal offences. Around a third of the cases concerned neglect of duty.
Total disciplinary actions against PCSOs are more than double the number of two years ago. In one force, one PCSO in six faced an internal investigation.
In September 2007, two PCSOs failed to rescue 10-year-old Jordan Lyon who drowned in a lake in Wigan, Greater Manchester, because they were “not trained” to deal with the incident.
Figures this summer showed that PCSOs, who are not fully sworn-in, are being employed at a much faster rate than normal officers.
In light of this, is it any surprise that the Conservatives are sceptical about PCSOs? Chris Grayling certainly is. Apparently, he feels PCSOs can have a role to play in areas where there is low level crime but they are not suited to estates were gangs operate, for example. As a result, in the New Year, Grayling will outline new proposals as part of a wider package of policing measures. Grayling plans to leave it up to individual chief constables to decide whether their particular police force needs PCSOs and Home Office funding will no longer be ring-fenced, allowing each force to decide where it spends its money. It is understood that Grayling thinks most forces will keep some PCSOs, but he believes some will scrap them entirely.
No complaints from me. Whether this will convince any voters outside of the Daily Fail readership to vote Conservative is another matter.
Witanagemot Blogs
We see them walking around in our local area, and the nearby larger market town. I have yet to see one do anything except walk around.
They seem to have little power, but operate in areas where they have as little access to a police officer as the rest of us, so what is their purpose. Probably to collect information. Though what information is questionable. They already have everything about our cars on databases, so its not tax disks. Maybe they are there to hand out silly penalties for dropping a peanut in the street.
Whatever their purpose, they achieve nothing that I have seen.
Quite a sensible policy, letting the Chief Constable decide what he requires to do the job more effectively. Lets hope they continue this trend of distributing power to a more local level.
Snap!!
They…think that they can have a 3 tier system of policing .like they do in Spain and France,but..
In Spain and France they do not crime a divy text conversation between two numb nuts as harassment, they don’t crime a mark on a window as an “attempt burglary” , if a finca had a window broken in a typical Andalucía village , no one would ring in wanting a crime number for their house insurance.
A pathetic hand bagging fight between two bien peasants’ in the Auvergne wouldn’t result in hours of interviews and statement taking.
You can have low paid automatons when walking around is all that is required, however, if you want the full investigate everything system, ethical crime recording nonsense, it will never work.
“policing on the cheap” – How does this really stack up when you bear in mind that almost all PCSOs carry out their duties in pairs ? The ones I see are in central Crawley and East Grinstead – hardly places where they need fear assault in broad daylight in their normal working hours.
Too often one also sees proper policemen in twos – this in itself sets up a barrier – they are seen to be communicating to each other, which puts a barrier to chat with the public right away.
Somehow, I tend not to talk to a pair, where my natural instinct is to say hello to a solo figure of authority. Two seem more of a menace than approachable. (I’m no longer a young yob, but a retired businessman of 68).
Also, wearing these yellow hi-vis plastic things degrades them, makes them look like road sweepers etc. At the very least, their hi-vis should be a unique pale blue, which only PCs are allowed to use. Maybe not quite as hi-vis as yellow, but it would elevate them by giving them some status back.
Alan Douglas
Not surprised by this at all. I didn’t like the ad hom style attacks made on them as pretend coppers when it was launched, but as pointed out above – they appear to do very little except stand around in pair talking to each other.
If I see one on his own, I assume it’s a traffic warden.
Frankly, they’re not police, they don’t have the powers, training or discretion. End of story.
‘Frankly, they’re not police, they don’t have the powers, training or discretion. End of story.’
Exactly. And the reason so many are actually getting done for misconduct is that they typically wouldn’t make it through the police recruiting procedure (otherwise, you’d apply to be a real copper, right?)
I’d rather have an extra PC for every 2 PCSO’s.
I have to wonder what attracts potential recruits to be ‘PCSOs’?
Seeing as they have no real powers and no real role, is it the uniform?
If we are so wealthy and happy under Labour, why are there so many guards out there?
http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2009/12/power-of-uniform.html
http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2009/12/jacqui-smiths-irregulars.html
Join me as a “Freedom Warden”
Wiltshire County Council previously said the uniform was being introduced so library staff were more “clearly identifiable”.
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/4248039.__35k_library_uniforms_won_t_be_ready_for_council_s_launch/
I cannot speak for all POlice Forces and all CSO’s, however, I have been a CSO for over three years now, after 22 years in the Armed Forces. I find from talking to members of the public that “walking around” is just what they want to see from their Police Force, a representative of the Police, in uniform, on patrol in their area, as often as possible. It gives many of them a sense of security.
As to the comment that CSO’s are “doing nothing”, I spend my time on patrol talking to members of the public, young and old, and generally making myself available to answer any questions or take note of anybodies concerns. You would be amazed at the number of people who start their comments to me with the words “I wouldn’t have rung the Police but as you are here I can tell you…”. This means we get a significant number of incidents and pieces of information reported to us that people may not otherwise have passed to the Police.
With regard to the comment that the use of CSO’s to collect information is questionable, can I add that information collected by CSOs (And Police Officers) in my area has led to a number of significant arrests and provided a wealth of background intelligence on known criminals. This week I have submitted over a dozen reports with detailed information regarding criminal activity in the area I work.
And I am particularly concerned over the comment that CSO’s have “achieved nothing”; CSO’s in my area take detailed statements, conduct house to house enquiries following crimes, attend meetings with various partner agencies (Social Services, Housing Associations, School Staff et cetera) to help and support members of the public that have been affected by crime and anti social behaviour – or are actually those involved in crime and anti social behaviour. This is work that Police Officers would otherwise have to attend. The fact that CSO’s can do this work means Police Officers can be free to attend to other issues.
Just to give you an example of the work CSO’s are involved in, this week I have taken statements concerning a theft, attended two addresses to pass on details of court timings to two vital witnesses (One of which was a witness to an extremely violent attack), conducted house to house enquiries following an attempted burglary, attended an address of two elderly residents who were victims of a burglary to provide further reassurance and update them on the investigation into the burglary, attended a meeting involving Social Services and the Police in an effort to safeguard three young children and visited a victim of a violent crime to provide reassurance; all of this is in addition to being out on foot patrol in my area as often as my other commitments allow me.
People seem all to willing to make statements about the work that Community Support Officers do, often without full access to the facts. I for one feel that I provide a real service to my community and most people I meet when at work seem to genuinely value what I do.
I have been a Community Support Officer for three years and this followed 22 successful years in the Armed Forces where I achieved a reasonably high rank. This is a second comment I have added to this page. The reason I am a CSO is because I want to be, not because I would not pass the recruiting procedure for the Police. You may be interested to hear that a significant proportion of CSO’s join at that level to get a good look at what the Police Force is all about before committing to the long process of actual Police Officer recruitment (There are also a number of Police Officers who have retired and become CSOs!).
And regarding the comment that CSO’s do not have discretion, we do, and are called on to exercise that discretion on a regular basis. You cannot deal with members of the public and try to sort out all of their issues by the strict application of a set of rules – you simply cannot have a set of rules for every situation, you have to apply a good deal of common sense.
The comment that it is probably the uniform that attracts CSO’s, I doubt that very much. I think it is more likely that people who want to be a Community Support Officer want to do just that – support their community to the best of their ability.