News today that Avon and Somerset are looking to give theirPCSOs arrest powers…
Yes… you heard that right… powers of arrest in addition to their citizen powers that we all have.
Just to be clear…They are looking to give Section 24 powers to PCSOs…effectively ending the role of Constables in general…
Avon and Somerset pol fed show nothing on their site at the moment…but the BBC news report I have seen (we get South West here) mentions their ‘concern’.
Heh…I bet.
This is only the beginning. If they get arrest powers they will need handcuffs…CS ..batons? Body armour?
Bit scary that they will be able to do what we do…
The mists of time clear…and I see a future that has very few constables in it… just lower paid local deputies…
And here is the link!
Shijuro (nearer Go-juro though...) is not georgedixon's relatively honest Blog 
“Begins”? And so it continues, more like.
And if a PCSO, with their newly bestowed, identical powers as a Constable, costs more than the Ā£19k start pay for a fully warranted officer, what can be the justification? Why not just employ more, and cheaper, Constables?
You’re missing the point…
PCSOs are not warranted officers, PCSOs are employees…they can be messed around with…hired and fired…made redundant…
They want that flexibility…they don’t want us any more…
My question was rhetorical – you’re right of course. Easing civilian staff in, easing warranted Constables out.
As a (relatively relevant) aside, has anyone seen those Newham Borough ‘private police’ in action? I was watching them the other week. There were 8 of them, aggressively descending on MoPs and issuing tickets for littering. I’m no fan of littering but this was an exercise in figure hunting and revenue collection par excellence. A glimpse into what privatisation has to offer. Not pretty.
nice buttons…9 O’clock…
Love the chap with the scrabbled egg…he looks well surely…
Indeed, but even more importantly: did you clock the ‘Chief Officer’s’ cap, resplendent in its silver laurel leaves adornment? Both amusing and terrifying at the same time…
Disregard my last (now you’ve amended your comment!!!)
Sorry mate… old age… š
We have that crap set up here in the town… sets police/public relations back to the stone age…
‘The future’ – right there.
Hi Ed, glad to seee you managed to get a ‘Visa’
Have I got hold of the wrong end of the stick, or is this kind of ‘progress’
moving towards a postion where PCSO’s will be replacing the traditional Constable, and that title, ‘Constable’ if it survives at all, will be the title of graduates from ‘The Police College’ who in turn will be theorists not police as we now know them. Also, as is pointed out above, a PCSO will be more easily managed as an employee rather than a Constable holding an office under the Crown.
Someone in a back room has been very busy planning empires to come.
SP.
Oh yes…we are in a groove…
Got it in one SP, and thanks.
Is that like quantative easing?
This is seriously frightening stuff. The “service” is f*****.
As a mop, I’ve been worried about this for a long time. I’ve seen this coming, you already see PCSOs with body armour and handcuffs in king’s cross all the time. And they dress almost identically to police now.
I have no problem with warranted and trained constables keeping the peace, that’s what they are there for, but this really worries me…….
I thoguht BTP PCSOs already had this power?
yup they do…but they are seen as a special case…they have handcuffs and armour too…
Apparently they have always been able to have the power if authorised by the Chief Constable of the relevant area ( I did not know this) – this is however the first time that the activation of those powers has been considered since 2007.
Those Newham muppets are a different kettle of fish altogether.
Scary thought but this is just a sign of things to come. I have now started to make plans to leave this job. It is likely to take a few years for everything to be put into place but I’m hoping that in the next 5-7 years I’ll be in a position to leave. I hate how this job has changed and I dread to think where it’s heading.
Escape tunnel dug…
Well I’ve just started digging but I think it will pay off. Glad that you’ve found your way out and hope it all works out. I’ve a few years of hard work ahead of me but it will be worth it. Can’t wait to be in a position to spend time with my family and not always feel bollocksed from working shifts.
Think I need to look into the rules surrounding A20. I have a painful injury from years ago but I’ve just battled through it. The older I get the worse its going to get.
A20 takes at least a year…but…I would certainly look into it!
Shij,you are completely wrong in opposing PCSO’s getting arrest powers.As the SMT say-think outside the box.Can you imagine the chaos it would bring? All those 8 yr olds arrested for shouting PLASTIC and marched into the custody in handcuffs. How much money would the Commissioner/Chief Constable have to pay out for unlawful arrests before they get the hump?
Also who would process the prisoners? Who’s going to teach the PCSO’s to do the following after arrest?
Fingerprints/photo/DNA.
Write arrest notes
Interview the prisoner.
Give disclosure
Case papers
Crime report input
Court presentation skills.
Once the poo hits the fan a few times then the SMT and the public will realise PCSO’s are a waste of time as an idea and this experiment will get quietly shelved,hopefully making our position stronger and more appreciated.
Interesting point of view… The old ‘best way to show how crap the system is would be to let it fail’ ploy…
But the problem is that coppers never really let it fail. We are a make do service, always have been, always will be. The general copper does the best he/she can to the best of their ability regardless of the sh!t thrown at them. Personal pride very often prevents us from letting things fail. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.
This is very true… We have a problem: we join with the intention of helping people and we care… Stooping working our playing the SMT games affects that and we are better than that…
“Who’s going to teach the PCSOs?”
Already happening, Jaded – neighbourhood teams with a ratio of x1 PC to x6 PCSOs, the PC basically wiping their PCSOs soft bits and shouldering the flack when it goes bandy. PCSOs with arrest powers will only be a further extension of the current madness we find ourselves in.
Yup…its the future…
Most of ours struggle to write their own name, be interesting to see how they cope with a set of case papers.
It’s all in the definition of ‘Arrest’.
In the case of a PCSO, it is likely to be ‘Detain’ until your ‘Police College’ qualified officer arrives to hold your hand and guide you through the paper work. Hence the six to one ratio. Then with the passage of a few years the public will grow used to a dumbed down service and along with the ‘police’. will have forgotten that things were ever different. The memory of ‘The Constable’ and ‘Peel’s Principles’ will just be a chapter in a reference book along with Trafalgar, Waterloo and The Charge of the Light Brigade.
By the way, speaking of ‘The Charge’ where are the rest of Gadget’s gallant six hundred, it’s time they re-mustered and resumed duty. A regiment does not pack up it’s kit bags, hand in it’s weapons and go home because the Colonel is MIA.
Gadget’s Blog wasn’t just himself, who was it made the record number of hits and paraded for seven years to give him substance and form.
Shijuro has given you a platform from which to speak…………so where are you?
SP.
You are right…people don’t care about principle…they care about results.
They care about how quick they get a response…how quick the problem is dealt with…how cheap it is…
As to the 600…well I am getting more hits than that every day…but…like all relationships..it takes time
to form. However…
Some have given up…and I am not Gadget… he had (has!) a nice style of prose…I am just a blogger…
I will keep going until the ‘knock at the door…’ š
^^ This.^^
Hear Hear!
Present sah!
Just catching up now my travel permit has been authorised š
Hey Shij, 27 comments soon the 1st game will mean something.
Lol…
The list of skills quoted above is interesting in that it flies in the face of those who say that PCs do not need A Levels. My view is that the skills in that list are equal to a Diploma in Legal Practice. I say this again, if you say that you do not need academic skills to do the Job then you are saying that anyone can do it in which case the Government will want to pay the minimum. I was at a seminar today on Actions against the Police those who operate in this area of law are not oblivious to what is happening in the Police Service right now. Not my bag but there are plenty out there for whom it is.
They are going to do it no matter what we have on our CV…