Why are they in uniform & driving about then?
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What the ? Unbelievable
- Thread starter ogr1
- Start date
They are not even hobby bobbies.
Hobby Bobbies (special constables) at least have the same powers as their full time colleagues when they are in uniform.
PCSO's have no authority as such and are merely a cheap uniform presence.
It has been an issue since they were first introduced. The fact that they are allowed to drive marked vehicles just makes the situation worse in the eyes of the public, but the driving situation is another matter altogether as even the regulars do not do the driving courses that used to be obligatory. Some forces even have specials driving traffic cars
PCSO's should be done away with in MHO
Let me qualify that then...That's a bit harsh.
I'm sure many of them are nice people and could find other useful occupations
The position of PCSO should be done away with 
Saw an actually copper on the beat walking through Havant last weekend. Not a Plastic Plod but an actual policeman.....
We weren't the only ones who stopped and stared at him. It would've got much the same reaction if it'd been Elvis.
We weren't the only ones who stopped and stared at him. It would've got much the same reaction if it'd been Elvis.
Maybe a stripper on his way to a job?
Not wearing that police issue mankini, he wasn't.....
- it is absolutely right that the language used by the PCSO in this instance is being investigated by Sussex Police, it sends out a poor message
- nobody on here or in the media knows what was happening. Everyone can guess but they don’t know. for instance it may have been the case that a single fully empowered officer in the same situation may have been instructed to wait for assistance - far from unusual. Or not.
- it is obvious and nobody is going to argue that in an ideal it would be wonderful to replace each PCSO with a fully empowered officer. But that ignores budgetary constraints. In simple terms more PCSOs can be employed than ‘full’ officers can be employed for the same budget. A balance has to be struck on what is needed against the funding available …and the harsh reality is that in the current economic environment there is nothing like enough budget to meet needs
- The clue is in the ‘Police Community Support Officer’ title….day -to-day duties usually include high visibility patrolling, tackling anti-social behaviour, dealing with minor offences, crowd control and directing traffic at public events, helping direct traffic at roadblocks or scenes of accidents, gathering criminal intelligence, schools and community liaison and generally supporting front-line policing. This frees up fully empowered officers to undertake more ‘serious’ duties
- despite rumours to the contrary PCSOs usually have the power to detain using ‘reasonable force’ while awaiting support from an officer with the power to arrest
- happily I live in a relatively low crime area and as such we have very little visible policing (a scary percentage of resource is used scraping drunken/drugged up ‘party goers’ off the pavement and each other in the Brighton ‘night time economy’). However, we have our fair share of low level criminality, generally around antisocial behaviour by a small element of the youth population.,we have two PCSOs who are doing a marvellous job in difficult circumstances; policing is not all about hundred mile an hour car chases, bringing down organised crime groups and shoot outs
- ask any officer on patrol if they would prefer to be single crewed or supported by a PCSO and see what the answer is. Attitudes towards PCSOs and Special Constables have moved on within the police in recent years (as have many behavioural aspects) and there is a challenge to develop this into the wider community
- it would be nice to see the positive side of policing - which heavily outweighs the negative - highlighted in the media rather than jumping on any failure, whether perceived or real