The cavalry’s cycling over the hill

The Home Secretary has decided to give more power to volunteers to help “finish the job of police reform”. Theresa May will introduce legislation to create volunteer police community support officers (PCSOs), to be seductively labelled PCSVs (‘volunteer’ means ‘unpaid’). As with Special Constables, they will undergo unspecified and inexpensive training, wear PCSO uniforms and have the same powers as their ‘regular’ colleagues (not a lot).

These changes are being made just as new roles for paid PCSOs are being discovered by the day, despite their value not always being immediately evident. For example, a Wirral, Merseyside businessman named Mr Aslam was “astonished” when a PCSO on a bicycle was dispatched to his shop as four masked burglars were breaking in for the second time in eight days. Mr Aslam had been told the shop alarm was going off and went to check. He explained: “I didn’t take anybody with me, I thought, who’s going to target my shop at 7pm on a Sunday night?” Well, burglars obviously. Reports say he left the scene and returned with a few of his friends but was assaulted (by, we must hope, the burglars, rather than his friends or the PCSO) before the gang, being better equipped than the PCSO, drove off in a car.

Mr Aslam has received an apology from Chief Inspector Paul Sutcliffe for a “not proportionate” response. Chief Insp Sutcliffe said: “This was a particularly busy evening, but we understand how this must have been very distressing for the proprietor” and then claimed that the police have “stepped up” patrols in the area. This presumably means that his PCSOs (or PCSO) have ‘pedalled up’ their patrols. I am sure the community is reassured

Yet that which Chief Insp Sutcliffe considers ‘not proportionate’ could instead be a major breakthrough in British policing. It had looked for a moment as if PCSOs were to be replaced with unpaid volunteers, but the switch to cycle patrols may save them yet. In this case, the sight of a fully-equipped PCSO, draped in fluorescent yellow, festooned in Velcro and secured by ankle clips arriving at speed on a force-issue cycle has clearly scared the villains away (once they finished assaulting the shop owner that is). This was something that the victim and his potential PCSVs had failed to achieve. In the first burglary, clothes were stolen and the burglars decided to come back. In the second raid nothing was taken and the burglars appear to have retired. So, things are getting better already. There are clearly opportunities to build on this success. PCSOs can have their bicycles fitted with klaxons and sirens; the Merseyside Police chief officer team and finance officer will advise them on how to avoid paying tax on them.

The physical challenge of riding heavily-laden cycles will counteract the worrying tendency of PCSOs to put on weight. This will ensure that when they speedily arrive at the scenes of ongoing burglaries they can advise offenders, victims, witnesses and volunteers, observe proprietors being assaulted and graciously accept cups of tea and biscuits without getting out of breath. Community policing is here at last. Stand those volunteers down!

Yours,

Stitch

stitchley@policeprofessional.com

@SOStitchley