Section Menu
- Local Issues Local issues such as SPP, Neighnourhood Policing etc
- National Issues National Police Federation Policy
- Where We Stand
Local Issues / Police Community Support Officers
Merseyside Police Federation recognises that the face of policing is changing and that Community Support Officers have been introduced into the Police Service and are increasingly engaged in the front line delivery of operational policing. Merseyside Joint Branch Board broadly welcomes PCSOs as an additional resource to existing police officer numbers. We recognise that the public has an insatiable appetite for high visibility policing, which cannot be delivered by existing police numbers. We also recognise that Police Officers are often over-whelmed and swamped by public demands for policing and this can lead to disappointment from the public with the service provided when we cannot meet those demands from existing resources. However, PCSOs are not, and never can be, a replacement for a fully trained, fully sworn, fully accountable police officer.
Nor do we believe that the growth of PCSOs should be at the expense of the growth in Police Numbers, which should always be driven by demand and a properly conducted resource deployment model. For this to effectively happen there should be a clearly defined role profile for both Police Officers and PCSOs and clarity over the demands and workloads associated with those respective roles. This should always be the driver for Resource Models rather than the issue of cost and finance which would lead to the position where PCSOs would be asked to tackle problems for which they are not adequately skilled, trained or equipped. This would be unfair to Police Officers, PCSOs, and most importantly the public, who as a consequence would receive a lesser policing service.
Concerns regarding PCSOs have arisen as the Home Office and ACPO have failed to provide clear direction on the role of the PCSOs. In fact the Home Office have effectively conducted a “live experiment” by means of various pilots, and as a consequence, has done little to allay fears regarding powers creep, and ulterior motives of reducing police officer numbers. This approach has also been unfair to PCSOs who have been recruited to perform one role only to see that role significantly change.
Merseyside Joint Branch Board believes that a clearly defined integrated role, tackling low-level anti-social behaviour and delivering public re-assurance should be identified and developed to effectively utilise community support officers. It is essential for their integration into the Police Service that Police Officers can recognise and identify the added value PCSOs can bring to the issues they are trying to resolve. It is therefore our position that PCSOs should be posted to Neighbourhood Teams lead by Sergeants and Inspectors and deployed by them in accordance with area priorities. Similar to Police Officers they should be given targets and measured on their effective performance. That measurement should always focus on customer satisfaction and outcomes and not output.
In respect of powers Merseyside Joint Branch Board believe that the role of the PCSO is to complement the service provided by Police Officers by dealing with the above issues of low level anti social behaviour which Police Officers do not have the ability to effectively target due to other competing priorities and demands. In order to effectively deal with this they should be given the necessary skills and abilities, which we believe inevitably means the power to demand someone’s name and address and the power to issue summonses for minor offences, such as littering and dog fouling. As Policing Professionals we know that individuals often refuse to provide these details, or infact furnish incorrect details under these circumstances. It is therefore impractical if PCSOs cannot deal with this situation and therefore the power to issue summons and demand names and addresses must inevitably be accompanied by the power of detention until the arrival of a police officer who can then authorise further detention.
Federation Representation and the Extended Police Family
The Police Federation of England & Wales was created by statute in 1919. At its inception the Police Federation represented virtually every individual engaged in operational policing up to and including the rank of Chief Inspector.
Merseyside Joint Branch Board recognises that there has been significant changes to the make-up of the Police Service since the creation of the Police Federation of England and Wales. It is the belief of Merseyside Joint Branch Board that as an organisation we are best placed to recognise and understand the stresses and pressures of those individuals engaged in front line policing which brings them into face-to-face contact with the public. It is also our stated position that we are best placed to provide representation to these individuals.
In recognition of this, it is Merseyside Joint Branch Board stated aim that we should be able to extend our representation to any individual employed by Merseyside Police Authority and engaged in contact with the public in a front line operational policing role. By this definition, we would include the Special Constabulary, PCSOs, Enquiry Officers, D.C.C. Staff, and Custody Assistants etc.
