North Yorkshire Police launch PCSO recruitment campaign

Today marks the start of North Yorkshire Police’s major new recruitment campaign to bring more than 50 Police Community Support Officers into the Force over the next 12 months.

North Yorkshire Police launches PCSO recruitment campaign

The campaign is part of a wider recruitment plan to boost the number of frontline police working across North Yorkshire’s communities

Police Community Support Officers (or PCSOs) are paid employees who work alongside warranted Police Officers to keep communities safe.  They take part in neighbourhood patrols, help to tackle anti-social behaviour, provide crime prevention advice and support investigations.  Whilst many people choose to be a PCSO as a permanent career role, others use the position to gain experience before applying to become a warranted Officer.

Speaking about the recruitment campaign, Phil Cain, Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police said:

“PCSOs are a really important part of the policing family because they have a very direct link with communities, and help to solve the problems that can affect peoples’ quality of life.

“The increase in the Precept has meant we can boost the number of PCSOs we have in our Force by 20, which is really positive, and will make a significant different to communities.  But added to that we also need to recruit to fill vacancies that have arisen from people retiring or moving into warranted Officer roles.

“Our aim is to recruit 50 PCSOs this year in three intakes.  Today’s campaign is the start of that process.”

Based around the qualities required to succeed in the PCSO role – including communication, people skills, level-headedness, problem-solving and team-work – the campaign encourages people with these abilities to “be a PCSO”.  As well as general publicity, North Yorkshire Police will be holding some special workshops aimed at encouraging people from under-represented groups, such as black and minority ethnic communities, to make an application.

Said DCC Phil Cain:

“We made great progress last year in attracting candidates from a diverse communities into the Force, and we’re continuing to focus on that again this year.  We want our workforce to be representative of the wider demographics in North Yorkshire as a whole, and we’ll be running our Positive Action activities alongside this PCSO recruitment campaign to support that.”

Anyone interested in joining North Yorkshire Police as a PCSO can visit:  www.northyorkshire.police.uk/pcso for information on the role and how to apply.

Community police numbers drop by more than half in York

Front line PCSO numbers have dropped by more than half in York since 2016.

PCSO’s passing out in 2014

Liberal Democrat Councillor Ashley Mason, who is currently serving as the Vice Chair to the Police & Crime Panel, recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to North Yorkshire Police Force. He wanted to kow the number of community police officers patrolling the streets of the City

In response, Cllr Mason was told that there are currently 25 front line PCSO’s in York.

This compares to 64 in 2016.

Cllr Mason had also requested the figures for the last 10 years, but unfortunately, was told that this information was not recorded.

This revelation comes amidst growing concerns that the fall in police numbers, due to Government cuts, has lead to increases in crimes throughout England. Although this has been denied by Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, a leaked report from her own department, has suggested reductions in police numbers were “likely” to have led to the increase.

Earlier this year, PCC Julia Mulligan promised to look into the neighbourhood policing system in York, after many local councillors expressed concerns about the lack of local officers in their communities.

Councillor Ashley Mason, Liberal Democrat and Vice Chair of the Police & Crime Panel:

“PCSOs are a vital link between the police and the communities they serve.  To loose so many over two years is shocking.”

“It is interesting to see that the Police and Crime Commissioner say that numbers high, which suggests that some PCSO’s are being taken away from the City of York.”

“I will be writing to the Police and Crime Commissioner to express my concerns and insist that her review of the force begin as soon as possible”

Police Community Support Officers being recruited in York

 70 more special constables also sought

PCSO-passing-out-6-June-2014-group-shotNorth Yorkshire Police have opened recruitment for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to join the force.

Police Community Support Officers are a critical part of North Yorkshire Police. PCSOs work at the front line of the force and provide a vital link between the police and the local communities the force serves.

They provide a visible and reassuring presence on the streets of our region and act as the eyes and ears of the force – building relationships with local communities and business owners, tackling anti-social behaviour and using the information they gather to prevent and deter crime.

PCSOs have slightly different powers to a Police Constable. They have designated powers surrounding anti-social behaviour, tobacco and alcohol, transport and fixed penalty notices amongst others.

The role can be challenging, but incredibly rewarding so North Yorkshire Police are looking for individuals who want to make a difference every day, have excellent communication and customer service skills and a genuine interest in helping others and building positive relationships.

Recruitment applications are welcome up to 9am on Monday 24 October 2016 .

For more information or to make an application go to https://northyorkshire.police.uk/jobs/

Special Constable recruitment

North Yorkshire Police is looking to recruit at least 70 new Special Constables when it opens recruitment on Monday 10 October 2016.

Special Constable recruitment opens 10 Ocotber 2016

Special Constables are volunteer police officers who have the same uniform and powers as regular (paid) police officers. They volunteer a minimum of 16 hours per month to policing York and North Yorkshire and carry out a full range of operational, front-line duties.

“Specials” as they are known, come from all walks of life and backgrounds which means that they bring with them a whole host of skills and abilities which complement those of their full-time colleagues.

 

Specials go through a rigorous training programme before they qualify to go out on the beat where they cover a wide range of duties from policing public events, to attending emergency incidents.

They can also choose to undertake further training and specialise in a particular area of policing such as public order, (policing protests, football matches etc), roads policing and joining our Rural Task Force.

Training as a Special Constable can take up to two years. Initial training takes around 19 weeks and involves weekend training sessions that culminate in a week-long course to consolidate everything the students have learnt. Students who successfully complete this initial training will then be attested – which means they swear an oath in front of a Magistrate – and are issued with their warrant cards and uniform. They then spend up to two years on the beat under the guidance of their tutor constable as a probationer Special Constable. During this time they must successfully complete a file of evidence of their experience called Student Officer Learning and Assessment Portfolio (SOLAP).

To apply to join, visit www.northyorkshire.police.uk/specials

North Yorkshire Police currently has 150 attested specials, 21 in training and a further 28 awaiting training.

A recent recruitment campaign for regular police officer saw a number of our Special Constables successfully apply to become full-time police officers. 20 of them attended their passing out parade last week.

Last modified: October 10, 2016

Man charged with a public order offence after incident is posted on Facebook

A 28 year old man from York has been charged with a public order offence after verbally abusing a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO).
Police

The incident was reported by members of the public after a video showing the offence was posted on Facebook.

Sergeant Kevin Kelly of the York response unit said:

“My thanks go out to all of our social media followers who reported this incident.

“My colleague, based in York, was simply carrying out her duty, preventing crime and keeping the public safe, when she was verbally abused by a member of the public who thought it was “just a bit of fun” to video the incident and post it on social media.

“This type of despicable behaviour will not be tolerated and as this case clearly shows, there will be serious consequences when we catch those who commit this type of offence.

“Thank you to those people who support the police. As police officers, we want to help our communities be safe from harm, so please continue to support us and report any incidents to us on 101”.