Practical Skills for Police Community Support Officers

Sue Madsen

• Publisher: Learning Matters
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9781846410406
• eBook ISBN: 9780857252289
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

The role of the Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) is increasingly demanding and challenging, requiring constant learning and application of practical skills. This book is written as a practical guide for prospective or newly-recruited PCSOs, as well as established officers who want to refresh and develop their knowledge. Linked throughout to the National Occupational Standards, this book introduces the key, universal areas of competency for PCSOs and guides the reader through incidents typical of those PCSOs will encounter. Throughout, these scenarios are addressed with up-to-date policing methods, relevant procedure and legislation.

Chapter 1

Role of the Police
Community Support
Officer

Introduction

In order to gain the maximum benefit from this book it is important the reader first and foremost understands what the role profile and job requirements of the Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) are. This chapter will explain the PCSO role profile in simple terms, outlining the powers and job requirements granted to PCSOs within the police force. You will also gain a greater understanding of how changes to the police service as a whole, such as government initiatives, training schemes and assessment methods, will help integrate the PCSO into the policing family.

This chapter may also be useful to those hoping to apply to become a PCSO as the current application and assessment processes are based upon the role profile/competencies explained during this chapter.

The role

The PCSO role is a unique and valuable one to the police service if it is performed well.

The government has recently implemented a Neighbourhood Policing Policy to be adopted by all forces; this policy describes the PSCO as the eyes and ears of the service with a responsibility to address the spectrum of anti-social behaviour issues. Over the past few years, due to the growing demands on the police service, the area of community policing has changed. Resources have not been available to maintain certain functions such as high visibility patrols etc. This, among other factors, has increased a fear of crime in the community. By broadening the policing family with the introduction of the PCSO, forces can support front-line policing by allocating relevant tasks to PCSOs, such as high-visibility patrols. This will enable police officers to deal with the more complex and high-risk tasks that require their extended powers.

National Occupational Standards

The National Occupational Standards (NOS) form the basis of the PCSO job description. The PCSO role profile, training and assessment are all developed from these standards. The NOS for the role of PCSO are monitored and updated by an organisation named Skills for Justice (the dedicated Sector Skills Council and Standards Body for the Justice Sector). They work alongside justice sector organisations and identify the skills, priorities and actions required for workplace development.

Many of the NOS for a PCSO are the same as those for a student police officer. Some standards, however, have been specifically created for the role of PCSO. We will continue to explore the NOS in more detail in Chapter 2.

PCSO powers

At present, the powers granted a PCSO are selected by the Chief Officer in each individual force. This means there is no common ground, or standardisation of powers, allocated to PCSOs across the country. PCSOs in different forces will have different powers to deal with incidents. The government plans to address this lack of standardisation and are considering a set of national powers for all PCSOs. A proposal regarding the standardisation of PCSO powers was introduced to Parliament via the Police and Justice Bill in January 2006, but this proposal needs to complete the parliamentary process before it becomes statutory.

There are, however, clear guidelines from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on incidents when PCSOs should not be used. These are:

 

• where there is a clear likelihood that confrontation will arise;
• where there is scope to use a high degree of discretion;
• where any action taken by police is likely to lead to a higher than normal risk of harm to any person;
• where there is a clear likelihood that any police action taken will be an infringement of human rights;
• where the incident could lead to a significant amount of further work.

Standardised powers

Skills for Justice have produced a suggested list of standardised powers for a PCSO. In descriptions of the PCSO role profile, NOS or practical scenarios, this book concentrates on the powers outlined by Skills for Justice (See Appendix A).

Role profile

Within the police service a competency framework known as the Integrated Competency Framework (ICF) has been introduced. This framework outlines the required competencies for the individual roles within the police service. The introduction of the ICF has ensured a common standard for individual role profiles throughout the service. The ICF can be used to plan training needs, compile job descriptions, assist recruitment and monitor staff to improve performance.

A role profile will form the basis of any performance review or appraisal carried out on a role holder. The competencies relevant to the role profile ensure the person or task is assessed against a set of agreed standards. Role competencies therefore help to enforce a structured, transparent and objective assessment process which can be used by supervisors, managers or the post holders themselves to gather evidence of performance. A role profile will also state the relevant National Occupational Standards upon which the profile has been formulated.

Role profiles may differ slightly between forces simply because the job requirements vary in each policing area. PCSOs are no exception to this and their role profile will often be specific to a particular force and/or policing requirements. Nevertheless the core elements of the PCSO role profile (generic skills) are the same across the police service.

Skills for Justice have produced a role profile for the PCSO and this will be used as a benchmark for this book (see Appendix B). Any additional role profile information you require can be requested from your local police force and dealt with using the same principles you will see outlined within the book.

Structure of a role profile

A role profile is made up of core responsibilities, activities and behaviours. We will explore each in turn:

 

• Core Responsibilities. As the title suggests, these are the areas of responsibility that are central to the role profile; examples of these for the PCSO role are Community Safety and Intelligence.
• Activities. These are the specific tasks/activities that a person is expected to perform in their role. Activities are explained in a role profile and grouped together under the relevant core responsibility area. Each activity is allocated an activity number.
• Behaviours. The areas/standards of behaviour expected of a person carrying out a role are separated into behaviour areas and behaviour descriptions. Behaviours are not to be dealt with in isolation as the standard of behaviour can easily affect the activities. To achieve competence in a role three different levels of behaviour need to be attained, usually at levels A, B or C (Respect for Race and Diversity behaviour is always a level A). Examples of behaviours for the role of PCSO are Working with Others and Achieving Results.

Throughout the practical scenario chapters of this book you will be reminded of the appropriate PCSO role behaviours/activities in one of two ways. First of all, at the very beginning of each chapter you will find a table listing the National Occupational Standards and the activities/behaviours relevant to the scenario as a whole. Secondly, at regular points during the scenario there are a series of shaded boxes which remind you of the PCSO activities/behaviours appropriate to particular sections of the scenario. The activities/behaviours will be indicated in the shaded boxes by the following symbol:

See Appendix B for a detailed example of a role profile.

Chapter 2

Skills and abilities

Introduction

In the previous chapter we explored the Integrated Competency Framework (ICF) and the contents of a role profile for a PCSO. In this chapter we will examine the specific skills and abilities required to competently perform the role of PCSO. We will consider how the NOS underpin the skills, abilities, training and development of PCSOs. We will also look at how the PCSO may be continually monitored and assessed against the NOS within the workplace.

Training and development

It has been recommended the training and development of newly appointed PCSOs follows the same structure as that of Student Police Officers. A national recruitment process has been implemented for the role of PCSO which is very similar to the process Police Officer recruits undergo. The PCSO recruitment process involves a role-related Assessment Centre which concentrates on the competencies (NOS) required of a person to fulfil the role of PCSO.

The government has recently introduced the Wider Policing Learning and Development Programme which encourages integration of the training and development of PCSOs with other groups of the police service. All PCSO training is mapped against the NOS to ensure its relevance to the role and the preparation of the individual for the workplace. Other methods of training and assessment for both Police Officers and PCSO recruits generally take the form of a workplace achievement portfolio.

Work-based assessment

Assessing competence in a job using the NOS has been used by many different sectors in the past. Work-based assessment is now commonly used within the police service in a variety of areas, including criminal investigation training, the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP) and Sergeant/Inspector promotion processes. The PCSO is no exception to this and the role holder will be assessed within the workplace.

National Occupational Standards

National Occupational Standards (NOS) outline the key competencies and knowledge necessary for certain job roles. When coupled with an assessment strategy, they provide clear guidelines for the assessment of competence in a specific job role against nationally agreed standards of performance. NOS are widely used to provide benchmarks of best practice across the United Kingdom. They can also form a qualification for the relevant role holder, including a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ). The NOS are particularly important to the police service as they offer a set of competency guidelines which are flexible enough to meet the specific needs of different forces. For the role of PCSO this flexibility is particularly useful as the powers allocated and role profiles given to PCSOs will differ between constabularies.

Structure of National Occupational Standards

The NOS are grouped together by Skills for Justice into particular occupational areas/sectors. For PCSOs the NOS are taken from the policing and law enforcement sector. The NOS are broken down into individual units. These units describe competent performance and are made up of a number of individual parts which combine to fulfil the required outcomes and role competencies.

• Unit summary. This describes what the unit is about and how it fits into the workplace. It may outline the type of incidents or activities to which the unit applies. Each unit is given a number, for example 1A1.
• Elements. Units are divided into elements. A un...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Role of the Police Community Support Officer
• 2 Skills and abilities
• 3 Effective foot patrol
• 4 Anti-social behaviour (youth nuisance)
• 5 Community meetings
• 6 Licensing
• 7 Traffic-related duties
• 8 Motor vehicle nuisance
• 9 Statement writing
• Appendices:
• Index