Published date: 18 November 2016 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
Plans to boost the number of special constables is “not policing on the cheap”, a leading officer told councillors.
Special Constabulary Chief Officer, Supt Mark Owen, moved to allay concerns raised by Cllr Colin Powell during a Wrexham Council wellbeing and scrutiny committee meeting.
Cllr Powell said he believed Wrexham, with the largest night time economy in North Wales and the “huge area” of Caia Park, did not have the “necessary resources to do an effective job across the county borough”.
He had previously suggested to Chief Constable Mark Polin at a public meeting the policing model was based on a “’60s or ‘70s model”, rather than a current day one based on need.
Cllr Powell’s concern was whether the special constables were being used to “supplement an inequality that is already in existence”.
Supt Owen told Cllr Powell that special constables, who gave their time for free, did not make “bad” or “unprofessional” officers and there was a difference between “doing something on the cheap and being a volunteer”.
“They’re extremely well-trained, they’re extremely well-equipped so it is not policing on the cheap,” he said. “It’s policing using good quality volunteers who have been carefully selected and trained to deliver a quality policing service.”
North Wales Police embarked on a three-year programme to expand its special constabulary and other police support volunteers last year.
To date the number of special constables in Wrexham has risen from 21 to 31 with the force looking to increase the total number of hours worked each year by officers.
Special constables have full police powers, wear the same uniform and use the same equipment as a regular officer but are unpaid – except expenses – and are part-time.
Cllr Powell added he welcomed the report to the committee and was “particularly fascinated” by plans to create a foundation in policing degree at Glyndwr University where first year students would be required to sign up as special constables.
He suggested there should also be “junior constables, not special constables” from Coleg Cambria.
Supt Owen said there were 60 police cadets across North Wales and a group of 20 cadets from Wrexham were starting in January.
Cllr Carol O’Toole asked whether the scheme would help to improve response times which, she said, needed to be quicker.
Lee Robinson, Wrexham Council’s executive director , said the scheme would provide “additional resources specifically for Wrexham”.
“Those resources are deployed in the same way that police constables are, based on need and operational requirement,” he said.
“It’s effectively more police constables for Wrexham, which means that they can be deployed quicker, inevitably, because there are more resources to be used.”
In response, Cllr O’Toole said: “I’m allowing myself to be quietly optimistic, but we’re not going to know until these new special constables are in the community and able to respond, so I guess we will have to wait and see.”
The authority is working with the North Wales Police on an employer supported policing (ESP) programme to encourage council staff to join, with a report outlining the scheme to go before the executive board in January.
Supt Owen said “categorically” any hours done by council employees over the minimum 16 hours level would be spent in Wrexham.
Cllr Brian Cameron asked how confident Supt Owen was, given funding pressures that North Wales Police faced “in the future and now”, special constables would not be used to replace full-time police officers.
Supt Owen said: “I genuinely think we’re in a better position that most police forces in this country already.
“The chief officer team, five or six years ago, was shrewd enough to see a lot of these cuts coming.
“You might recall that we already had frontline cuts several years ago, and what they’re now focusing a lot of their energies on is back office cuts rather than frontline cuts.
“I think it would be wrong to see what we’re talking about here as a replacement for frontline cops.”
Supt Owen said instead it would allow the force to “do the things that we might have done a few years ago but we can’t do anymore” because of previous cuts.
“That’s why I still wholeheartedly think that even if we did see a reduction in police officers – and all the speculation is that North Wales Police will recruit quite heavily next year for regular officers anyway – that special constabulary still has that additionality, that added extra to add, rather than being a replacement.”
Committee members unanimously backed in principle the report’s recommendation for the executive board to explore the possibility of an ESP with the force.
Members were also satisfied with and supported the progress North Wales Police has made so far on the use of volunteers across Wrexham and the region.
http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/169256/plans-to-boost-special-constables-in-wrexham-is-not-policing-on-the-cheap-says-top-officer.aspx
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