GUEST POST- PCSO Powers: The Sergeant’s View
The debate over PCSO powers has long raged, making headlines again this month, with South Yorkshire Constabulary beefing up the powers of its PCSOs and turning them in to ‘Local Beat Officers’.
Sgt Tariq Butt, who works directly with PCSOs in Manchester, disagrees outright with proposals like this. He tells OnTheBeat why he thinks PCSO powers should stay the just way they are.
Sgt Butt has been with the police for 12 years, and now oversees a neighbourhood team of eight PCs and four PCSOs. He also blogs about issues affecting the police at realityofpolicing.blogspot.com and tweets from @TariqButt2.
WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY…
The Challenge
Sgt Tariq Butt
Out in all weather and clocking up the miles on foot patrol, imagine tackling large gangs of drunken youths or a criminal determined to get away ‘at all costs’ armed with just a high visability jacket, body armour and a torch! Oh, and not to mention limited powers…
Now that’s some of the challenges faced by PCSOs today!
The role of a PCSO is underrated and misunderstood by so many, both from inside and outside the world of policing.
What is understood though, particularly from the criminal fraternity, is the limited powers held by PCSOs, or at least an understanding of their limitations.
Whilst this is no doubt a challenge to PCSOs, I believe further powers may be detrimental to them as individuals and to the post they hold.
PCSOs
Most PCSOs I have ever worked with have been keen and dedicated individuals, who really just want to make a difference to the lives of the community that they have a responsibility too.
However, the law of averages will of course mean that there are those who underperform and those that shy away from the tougher side of the role – and in these cases robust supervision is needed to deal with them.
There is also an element particularly from some police officers who think PCSOs are just there to create more work for them.
They often hear the words ‘can I have an officer attend to assist’ over the radio, and think that if the PCSO wasn’t out and about, then whatever it is would never have been reported. If it wasn’t for those pesky PCSO’s…
Admittedly, all of this compounded by a negative portrayal in the media did cause tension in the early days of the PCSO. However, I would like to think that times have moved on – for the better.
Powers
They might not be as tooled up or have all the powers of a constable but what they do have is the ability to interact with people, communicate and build a rapport. Not having powers can be a blessing in disguise (sometimes), as I think you actually get down to dealing with what the problem is, the root cause, rather than arresting your way out of it.
A recent example I came across was in a neighbour dispute over parking. Police officers attended, and as the two neighbours were arguing they ended arresting them for a public order offence. A few weeks afterwards, PCSOs attended the same incident, calmed both parties and then involved the housing associations and local authority, who ended up marking out boundaries and actually resolving the issue.
Giving them more powers could actually take them away from their core role and potentially alienate them from the public.
They risk losing that close link and their ability to effectively gather intelligence, acting as the eyes and ears of the community.
Benefits
PCSOs bring so many benefits. They free up officer time by conducting basic enquiries and perform vital intelligence gathering. They also have an intimate knowledge of local issues, people, offenders, crime patterns and bring police and partner agencies together. All of which can assist officers regardless of rank or role.
PCSOs do a difficult job in difficult circumstances and are, in my mind, the unsung heroes of many local communities.
What do YOU think? Should PCSOs be given more powers or should they stay the way they are? Leave your comments below.
If you missed it, check out OnTheBeat’s day out on the job with Sgt Butt’s team here. You can find more of OnTheBeat’s coverage of the debate on PCSO powers here, and in the Met Commissoner’s talk here
The reason you hear ‘can we please have an officer to deal” is because of the lack of powers, especially search powers. We only need to call an officer if we need something done that an out of date power set doesn’t allow us to do.
The power of stop and search allows you to detain a person using reasonable force in order to conduct that search, this would then take us in to the realm of potentially handcuffing and using other restraint techniques. This would then erode the role further, require extra training and equipment and but that barrier up with the community, making a PCSO less approachable…
I already detain people using reasonable force, on many occasions restraint techniques which we are taught in OST have been used, and on odd occasions on the floor! I don’t agree that it would erode the role at all, just make the evolving role more effective.
BTP and NWP both have handcuffs, search powers and reasonable force for their PCSOs and they are still approachable. Also, it’s nothing to do with the kit an officer does or doesn’t have on their belt, it’s their people skills. Bobbies are unapproachable because many have the people skills of a serial killer, so the powers that be have forgotten this important fact and have put it down to their kit. Also, more powers means more complaints, possible payouts and people getting locked up (recorded crime) – all of which the brass doesn’t want. It all comes back to class divisions and snobbery – PCSOs are the underclass and bobbies are the almighty.
My point exactly – well said that man/woman!
Thanks. I don’t know whether your force has been involved in the olympic torch relay or not yet, but seeing some of the miserable and grumpy faces of some of the Met bobbies driving/riding/jogging past makes me think THAT’S what makes them unapproachable and distant from the community. It’s the “I don’t want to be here” (which is clearly visible) and the superior attitude when they go to jobs and end up locking up the victim for D&D because they’re annoyed their assailant hasn’t been arrested yet and they’re standing around doing nothing for example.
Yes we were involved, although I was on weekend leave, but I came into town, and funnily enough all the PCs I saw were from county forces, not the Met, and they didn’t look particularly happy. My PCSO colleagues that were on duty looked cheerful enough.
I am currently on Olympic Aid which is thankfully nearly finished. I have walked and walked and walked, whilst the PCs are all being driven around in carriers. I have seen convoys of 3 of them pass me with officers reading papers and books, whilst I’m trudging the streets. This is all so one-sided, again the blue shirt/white shirt divide shows it’s ugly face.
To the PCSO above – being female is BIG, BIG bonus to being a PCSO. People react so much better to them and aren’t as likely to act in a hostile manner. Also, it depends on how much you want to hide in your job or how busy you want to be. Also, it depends what your area is like. If you work in quiet Cornish village, then you’ll probably never even have anyone commit a crime nevermind acting like they dislike you.
A ‘yes’ man or woman in the making right there!
Sgt Butt is a fantastic officer clearly fully supports the day to day roles of police community support officers across the division. This view is shared by our Chief Constable the highest ranking officer on the force.
As a PCSO working under the expert guidance of the supervision at South Manchester, my confidence and proactive approach in the community has been driven by from the leadership over the years.
My role tackles anti-social behaviour on a daily basis. ‘Operation Student Safe’ provides high visibility presence in distrupting criminal activity in the student areas of Fallowfield and being in a position to be able to offer reassurance and understanding to all members of the public is a role I enjoy.
Sarge,
Just read your comments about PCSO’S.
I totally agree with all your comments at last somebody recognises the problems we face!!
I personally have had a long history of dealing with conflict situations during my working life and like to think I can resolve things with the only weapon I have ,my mouth!!
Joking aside I have had many a difficult situation ,getting people arrested,handling drunks ,drug users,people with mental illness etc,not once during that time have I wished that I had ,gas handcuffs or anything else that I could use to assist me.
Our role is defined as intergrating into the community,giving reassurance,gathering intelligence,which most of us do extremely well.
By giving us extra powers I believe all our good work will be undone as we will be then seen in a different light by many people in the community,and will lose a lot of the trust we have gained.
During my years working in my area I have seen lots of young people start to get involved in petty crime,and have tried to talk to them about how a criminal record could ruin their whole lives,some have laughed at me,others have come back to me two or three years down the line and still remembered what I had said to them,and told me that they had grown up now ,got a job and were living a different life.
This could be because I am female, as a lot of the youths say,”You sound just like my Mother !”,but I like to think it’s because they see me as part of the community,as they do the males I have worked with who get more or less the same sort of response(apart from the Mother bit!!.
I think that doing the job as it stands now is what we are all about,if some of the others want more powers,I think they are in the wrong job,this is what we do best,this is the very important role we play as part of the police force,and if anybody thinks differently get out in the community and talk to the people that matter,the people we deal with on a day to day basis.
There are some that do my job that don’t have the same motivation as others ,that need more supervision,but they would be the same in any job that they did,that won’t change,but unfortunately some people have judged us by those standards in the past and think we are all like that.
The majority of us work hard in sometimes difficult situations,go above and beyond our job description,as we did in the couple of bad winters we had,picking up a loaf for an elderly housebound person,clearing their paths of snow,ringing them to make sure they are ok,these,are things some of us did just because it helped the community,not for brownie points,just because we enjoy our role as it is now.
Sorry to rant Sarge,but we don’t need more powers,we just need to be recognised for the role we perform,we are not police officers,though our job is good grounding for the role ! we are what we do ,heavily involved in our community and performing a very challenging role.
PCSO – Manchester
There are elements of your story which work both ways. For example, you might want a PCSO to tackle a situation properly by having less powers, but have you thought about the PCSO who lets a situation get out of hand and actually allows criminal offences occur because they (think) they don’t have any powers?
How is this preventing anti-social behaviour or quelling public order? Some studies have actually shown PCSOs to make some situations worse.
I don’t see anything wrong with giving them police powers, doesn’t mean they have to lock up every day – many response officers can get away with it. In effect, same powers, different job? It works in other countries, it’s just that we have a very backward way of ignoring society’s issues.
Finally, arrogance of the police is why many reasons why PCSOs cannot fulfill their potential. Whether through not giving any further powers, telling them they are not allowed to do certain things when they can or just through plain lack of support. Look at how the police react when there’s talk of more ‘accredited persons’ or their dislike of SOCA.