Becoming a special constable (Q for BiB)
Discussion
anonymous said:
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This used to be the general way in which specials were treated but not in recent years.
anonymous said:
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You will be expected to attend duty for a minimum 8 hours per month. Duty is at your discretion and you can work whatever hours you can fit in or desire to do. Most specials I know generally work lates on a Friday or Saturday night walking the town centres and assisting with the raging drunken street battles that occur.
anonymous said:
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That you are a UK citizen and that you have no criminal convictions and that you have a reasonable level of education and intelligence
anonymous said:
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No darker skills required. We leave them to Blunket
anonymous said:
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live or work? You do not have to be a special where you live although it helps with the travelling time etc.
Specials in my force are a valuable commodity of whom we could not manage without. Many of them are good at the skills they develop through in house training from other specials and attachments to full time officers.
There are one or two that struggle a bit but the image of specials by full time officers as 'hobby bobbies' has long changed.
I regularly take special constables on attachments when they ask. I enjoy their company and it is a change to talk to someone with another outlook on life and work other than Police work.
In my force, special constables are allowed to drive Police vehicles after assessment by driving school. They are also allowed to patrol with other specialist depts such as Traffic and Dogs if they put in the hours.
I have the highest regard for most of the specials that work within the areas I patrol. (there again there are one or two full time officers I wouldn't p155 on if they were on fire)
anonymous said:
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No problems.
MilnerR said:
I've thought about doing something like this. The only special that i know is a right self important little pr*ck so i've been somewhat put off (and the whole "hobby bobby" thing). However from what madcop and mike have said i might reconsider giving it a go.
The only special I know of is somewhat overweight, and in his day to day job renowned for the amount of sick leave he takes.
However he commits enthusiastically to the Specials doing well in excess of the 8 hours a month Madcop mentions. Having said that his day to day job isn't that well paid, and as he is divorced with custody of two teenage monsters money is short. So the Specials is his social life.
In this day and age it is rare for people to put back in to the community, and therefore I beieve the Specials should be encouraged.
jvaughan said:
Most people (police)I have spoken to are in the oppinion that special or regular plod... when it comes to backup they dont care as long as they have someone !
Pretty much spot on. BiB are SO short staffed they don't care who they have helping. As long as they're doing it for the right reasons.
Oh yeah, those that do it for the wrong reasons don't tend to last long
Having been a special I will say that you have the full support and are certainly made part of the regular BiB.
You certainly don't get treated any different, and you do get involved in most/all of the jobs they do.
The days of Specials being the lowest of the low is long long gone.
Having said that - it does take some time to establish your ability/knowledge/skill/street cred with your assigned partner. Remember he/she will not always be on when you are - so you will get assigned a different partner. Having established yourself with the skills/knowledge above you'll find more and more wanting to partner with you.
K
>> Edited by Kinky on Tuesday 9th September 18:34
You certainly don't get treated any different, and you do get involved in most/all of the jobs they do.
The days of Specials being the lowest of the low is long long gone.
Having said that - it does take some time to establish your ability/knowledge/skill/street cred with your assigned partner. Remember he/she will not always be on when you are - so you will get assigned a different partner. Having established yourself with the skills/knowledge above you'll find more and more wanting to partner with you.
K
>> Edited by Kinky on Tuesday 9th September 18:34
my friend recently signed up to this, and has started a web site to do with it. he is training in tadworth. he is studying to become a doctor, and so became a special, so that he could get free travel in london. email me, and i will tell you the site. i dont know it off the top of my head, so i will have to ask him.
206xsi said:
Don't worry - I'm taking my campaign higher up the line. One jobsworth stuck in a van isn't worth the hassle.
Calling me a jobsworth?
It is a concern though - would quite like to be a special but wouldn't want to end up doing stuff like this. What sort of duties do the specials actually end up doing?
john_p said:
Don't worry - I'm taking my campaign higher up the line. One jobsworth stuck in a van isn't worth the hassle.
Calling me a jobsworth?
It is a concern though - would quite like to be a special but wouldn't want to end up doing stuff like this. What sort of duties do the specials actually end up doing?
Specials do all sorts of jobs depending on where they are specials. In my force there are specials that are attached to community beat officers who patrol alone when the beat officer is not on duty, deputising for him/her as well as together with the Home beat officer.
Specials are asked to assist at special events such as local carnivals and fairs with traffic marshalling and patrol within the event itself.
They assist as part of a crew in a panda car, attend major incidents to assist with the general running of errands and scene watches, searches for missing and vulnerable people and deal with arrests and interviews of those that are caught by themselves or regular officers.
In some forces they are provided with the training to drive police vehicles (although not the traffic cars).
They patrol independantly, with other specials or as part of a crew with a full time officer.
Specials can chose where they want to be a special, unlike regular officers whom are told where they are to work!
They can be asked to assist in busy custody areas and generally get the same sorts of tasks as regular officers except they are not required to do the same amount of paperwork to finalise court files and complex investigations.
They attend and assist at traffic accidents, are taught to take witness statements and assist on drug raids and searches. They are used to assist in stake outs where Observation posts are acquired to gain intelligence and information for raids on active criminals etc.
That in a nutshell is what is available to them.
Thanks madcop, very interesting, and I am definitely interested in joining up. Will have a think about this one.
I know how involved the regular police training is (quite a few months) - specials get a few weekends of training (?) - you mention arrests and interviews, I'd be a bit nervous doing these with only a few days training! Does this ever cause a problem, or is there a system in place to prevent you doing anything silly?
I know how involved the regular police training is (quite a few months) - specials get a few weekends of training (?) - you mention arrests and interviews, I'd be a bit nervous doing these with only a few days training! Does this ever cause a problem, or is there a system in place to prevent you doing anything silly?
I have done nearly fifteen years as a 'Special'.
Reached the rank of DO.......Inspector.
Have done loads of traffic, dogs, firearms (I have a passion for cars and guns), plain clothes, burglary squads at christmas.....absolutly loved it at 51 I retired and desperatly miss it.
Its true what everyone says but if you are a complete plonker then you will last about a year.
Out of interest I did 11 years with the Met in London then 2 with Hertfordshire.
You need to be able to hold your temper, always be outside looking in to a situation be quick thinking and a good communicator.
My advice is go for it
Reached the rank of DO.......Inspector.
Have done loads of traffic, dogs, firearms (I have a passion for cars and guns), plain clothes, burglary squads at christmas.....absolutly loved it at 51 I retired and desperatly miss it.
Its true what everyone says but if you are a complete plonker then you will last about a year.
Out of interest I did 11 years with the Met in London then 2 with Hertfordshire.
You need to be able to hold your temper, always be outside looking in to a situation be quick thinking and a good communicator.
My advice is go for it
john_p said:
I know how involved the regular police training is (quite a few months) - specials get a few weekends of training (?) - you mention arrests and interviews, I'd be a bit nervous doing these with only a few days training! Does this ever cause a problem, or is there a system in place to prevent you doing anything silly?
Of course, you would not be expected to deal with an arrest or interview alone, especially if you had not done many before. You would in fact not be allowed to as there are many procedures to follow. You would shadow an experienced officer until you knew what to do and how to do it.
Specials do get very good, if somewhat basic and compact training. Once a special has passed the relevant courses, the learning curve rises sharply when out on the streets under the guidance of either experienced specials or regular officers.
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