Home Office evaluation of the role of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs)

ps/18/06
19 April 2006
MPA briefing paper

Author: Alan Johnson, MPA

This briefing paper has been prepared to inform members and staff. It is not a committee report and no decisions are required.

Background

1. The thematic report Open All Hours by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) explored the disparity between success in crime reduction and the apparent lack of an equivalent impact on the public’s confidence in the police and perceptions of crime, and identified a ‘reassurance gap’ (HMIC, 2001). When asked what would improve their feelings of safety, satisfaction and confidence in the police, surveys consistently highlighted the public’s desire for greater levels of foot patrol.

2. An examination of how officers time was spent confirmed that most time outside the station was spent responding to incidents and making enquiries, and that most patrol was carried out from cars. There was a gap between the public desire for visible patrol and the ability of the police service to provide that function. In 2002, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) were the first to introduce PCSOs to bridge this gap.

3. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have described the role of the PCSOs as contributing to the policing of neighbourhoods, primarily through highly visible patrol with the purpose of reassuring the public, increasing orderliness in public places and being accessible to communities and partner agencies working at local level.

4. The National Policing Plans (NPP) (NPP 2003-06, NPP 2004-07) described reassurance as the ‘primary objective’ for policing. PCSOs were seen as crucial to performing ‘a high visibility, patrolling role providing reassurance to the communities they serve’. For this purpose reassurance has been defined as ‘the intended outcome(s) of actions taken by the police and other agencies to improve perceived police effectiveness (mainly confidence in, and satisfaction with, the police), and to increase feelings of safety (including reducing fear of crime).’

5. The Government made a commitment to deliver neighbourhood policing to all communities, the aim to ‘make communities feel safe and secure by reducing crime and anti-social behaviour in their area’, through the work of visible and accessible neighbourhood policing teams that are responsive to local priorities. PCSOs have a key part to play in these teams.

6. The key aims of this Home Office evaluation therefore were to:

• provide a national profile of PCSOs in terms of their activities, deployment, designated powers and demographics;
• provide indications of the impact of PCSOs on the public in terms of their levels of reassurance, their perceptions and an understanding of their role; and
• provide indications of the impact of PCSOs on low-level crime/disorder, incidents and anti-social behaviour.

Powers and deployment

7. The completion of this evaluation coincided with the Home Office’s introduction of a standard set of powers for PCSOs (see Appendix 1) and, as a result, was based upon information which has been overtaken by events.

8. However, activity analysis found that over a half of a PCSOs’ time was spent in the neighbourhood on visible patrol and community involvement, with PCSOs spending between 57 per cent and 60 per cent of their time on these activities and neighbourhood constables between 16 - 30 per cent.

9. PCSOs spent 3-14 per cent of their time dealing with incidents, most of which were within their neighbourhood area. Generally, police officers spent more time dealing with incidents but therefore had less time available for activities not linked to such incidents and consequently spent less time on any sort of patrol.

10. The significance of this is that, as a result, PCSOs do not have a significant impact on the level of recorded crime, since much of what is reported to – and dealt with – by PCSOs would have previously gone unreported.

11. The role of PCSOs getting to know the community as a result of foot patrol and the passing on of intelligence was valued by business and residential respondents at all levels. Generally PCSOs attended low-level incidents, many of which may not otherwise be attended by police officers. The advantages to the police service and the public are:

• the public feel reassured if there is a speedy response to their call about an incident;
• the perpetrators get sent a message that their behaviour has consequences; and
• if PCSOs attend rather than police officers it reduces the burden on police officers

12. However, some forces like the MPS have developed specialist roles for some PCSOs, e.g. security, transport, that meant that community PCSOs could provide a dedicated service to the local neighbourhood.

13. The evaluation found evidence that local PCSO interventions had an impact on all aspects of public reassurance. For example early indications from the National Reassurance Policing Programme showed that where neighbourhood policing had been implemented there was increased confidence in the police, there were significant decreases in perceptions of many aspects of anti social behaviour and concern about crime had decreased.

14. Those seeing PCSOs as a valuable resource felt the main benefit of their presence was in tackling anti-social behaviour because they were seen to have the potential to get to know and be known by local residents and provided a useful link between the community and the police.

15. Many participants expressed the view that not only would they be more likely to report this type of crime to PCSOs, but that PCSOs may be more likely to act. Those who did not see PCSOs as a valuable resource were generally likely to have little or no contact with PCSOs.

Recruitment and retention

Recruitment

16. The introduction of large numbers of PCSOs (over 5,000 in two years) provided a significant addition to the policing family. Before the introduction of PCSOs, the only means for the police service to provide routine patrol presence was with police officers, with limited support from special constables and traffic wardens.

17. In the MPS, if an application passes an initial assessment the candidate will be invited to undertake Day 1 of the Selection Process, which will involve a written test, structured interview and two interactive role plays, with performance assessed against a set of pre-determined skills. If successful at the first stage, the candidate will be invited to attend Day 2 which will involve a medical assessment and Job Related Fitness Test. If successful on Day 2, the candidate will be recommended for appointment subject to satisfactory checks on security status, references and a Substance Misuse Test.

18. In an attempt to achieve targets, the MPS Management Board have agreed the implementation of an ‘L-plate’ scheme for PCSOs which means they can be brought into the service with limited security clearance and a contract predicated on the basis that their security clearance will be successful. If not, the contract would be terminated.

Pay

19. In some forces, like the MPS, the availability of shift allowances made a considerable difference to PCSOs pay and in some cases was used as a way to enhance the salary rather than as a payment for unsociable hours. In the MPS, shift allowances vary between 12.5% and 20%.

Diversity

20. The PCSO role was also seen as an opportunity to increase the diversity of policing staff within forces. The Home Office publication “Neighbourhood Policing: your police; your community; our commitment” described how important it was for those involved in neighbourhood policing to have strong connections with the communities they served in order to increase public trust and confidence.

21. In the MPS at the end of February 2006, black and minority ethnic (BME) PCSO strength was 35.8% (771) compared with a target of 25%.

22. At 24.6%, BME recruits were 5.9% below the 30% target, although it was estimated that this target would be achieved at the end of March. At 44.2%, female PCSO recruits were 5.8% below the 50% target but it was hoped this target would be achieved by the end of March.

Training

23. Only 38 per cent of PCSOs responding to the Home Office survey felt their initial training had prepared them well enough to do their job and 59 per cent of PCSOs felt they had encountered situations they did not feel properly trained to deal with.

24. The Home Office has set up a Wider Policing Learning Development Programme (WPLDP) in response to the White Paper “Building Communities, Beating Crime – A better police service for the 21st Century.” The WPLDP aims to assist forces to implement neighbourhood policing through ‘modernised training’ and the provision of highly skilled neighbourhood officers to support police officers. The programme focuses specifically on PCSOs and Special Constables, whose role is also seeing something of a renaissance.

25. In the MPS PCSOs undergo three weeks' classroom-based training, including:

• Radio procedure
• Report writing
• Dealing with evidence
• Gathering intelligence
• Managing a crime scene
• Entering premises
• Use of force
• Communication
• Human rights
• Race & diversity
• Road checks
• Stop and search
• Health, safety & welfare.

26. Each week and at the end of the course, PCSOs are be tested on what they have learned. If initial training is completed successfully, PCSOs are posted to an Operational Command Unit in one of London's 32 boroughs. This will normally be their ‘home’ borough.

27. The role of PCSO supervisors is to manage, appraise and identify the training needs of PCSOs and for this the Home Office recognises they need training. Where the supervisors are police officers – which is the case in the MPS – the report found they have a particular need for training to understand the role and terms and conditions of a member of police staff, so that they can be appropriately tasked and deployed.

28. It emerged from fieldwork that in some cases the PCSO role was not well, or in some cases, at all understood by duty sergeants and police officers. Some managers were unaware of PCSO terms and conditions, although the majority of PCSOs (72%) believed their supervisor understood their role.

29. The Home Office suggest mentoring is a useful means to help an individual settle into an organisation through regular contact and support from a more experienced employee. Their PCSO survey showed that 61 per cent of respondents had a tutor or mentor following basic training; a regular sworn police officer mentored just under two-thirds of PCSOs, while a fellow PCSO mentored the remainder. Typically, mentoring lasted less than a month (53%) while almost a third (30%) were mentored for up to two months.

Part-time working

30. Surprisingly, although flexible working arrangements were made available to attract candidates from a wider pool of applicants very few PCSOs (2%) work part-time, and the majority of these are female (83%). The proportion of PCSOs working part-time is considerably less than other police staff (19%).

Career development

31. The role of a PCSO attracted a wide range of people from varied backgrounds. They tended to be older with wide ranging past work experience. Whilst most were satisfied with their job, there was some dissatisfaction with the repetitive nature of the work and the lack of a career path within the role. Those who were most satisfied with the job were generally older and female and these were most likely to say that they intended to stay in post.

32. The evaluation found that most PCSOs had a clear idea about their future. Of those responding to the Home Office survey, only three per cent said that they planned to leave during the next two years and 40 per cent said that they planned to remain. However, the majority (71%) felt there was not an appropriate career path for them to develop their skills as a PCSO.

33. Many saw career progression in terms of joining the regular police force, with over a third (36%) of respondents indicating that they were considering becoming sworn officers in the next two years. In the MPS, the period March 2005 to February 2006 saw 394 PCSO leavers of whom almost two thirds (245; 62%) progressed to police officer or police staff roles within the MPS.

Discipline

34. There is a difference in the discipline procedures for PCSOs and police officers, because PCSOs are members of police staff.

35. In the MPS, of total police staff discipline cases, there are a high number of PCSO cases. In relation to completed cases (disciplinary warnings), PCSO cases make up 34.7% of the total number. This is markedly higher proportion than PCSO strength in relation to total police staff, which is 12.9%.

36. A high proportion (47.8%) of those cases relate to PCSOs that joined the MPS over two years ago, when recruitment processes were not as robust. PCSOs recruited after these changes were introduced, make up only 22.4% of total cases.

37. The MPS are working to minimise HR risks by briefing managers in relation to the discipline process, and are also looking at probationary performance appraisal completion rates and initial selection processes.

Integration

38. PCSOs generally felt that they had been accepted by police officers and supervisors. In the survey, the vast majority of PCSOs (86%) said that they found officers approachable if they needed help and just over half (54%) agreed that police officers with whom they worked saw their role as worthwhile and beneficial.

39. The evaluation found some evidence that officers who did not work with PCSOs tended to be more negative about their role. For example, response patrols who have limited contact with PCSOs.

40. Unfortunately the MPS Police Federation has initiated a very negative campaign against PCSOs, arguing that it is a question of PCSOs or police officers, rather than an integrated approach to neighbourhood policing.

Conclusions

41. The evidence from the evaluation shows that PCSOs provided a much wanted service and are valued by both the police and the public for their visibility and their accessibility. It was intended that the main role of PCSOs was to act as a visible and familiar presence through foot patrol and community engagement.

42. This is something that police officers in general have less time for, due to the pressures of other aspects of their work, in particular responding to crimes and other incidents. The visibility and accessibility of PCSOs means that not only do residents and businesses feel reassured but they are more willing to approach them about problems and with information.

43. This ability of PCSOs to obtain and pass on community intelligence was recognised by police officers as one of their key benefits. As PCSOs become a consistent presence in the community, they get to know the local young people, build relationships and deal with any problems.

44. There are different levels of risk associated with when and how PCSOs are deployed. Many PCSOs stated that they felt vulnerable and a number had suffered some level of physical assault. The most important method of ensuring that PCSOs were used to best effect was to embed them in the organisation in a way in which they have adequate support and supervision and are part of a co-ordinated policing effort.

45. Communication was seen as key to both public and within force understanding of the PCSO role. Once PCSOs were in areas, it was seen as important that there were opportunities for two-way communication with such things as dedicated phone lines for the public to contact the PCSOs and to report incidents.

46. Within the police service, it was important that information about the remit and role of PCSOs is made available and regularly reinforced.

47. The evaluation has shown that locally based PCSOs are most effective when used in the following ways:

• Their role within the force has been clearly defined and this role is distinct from that of a neighbourhood police officer.
• Their deployment and powers are appropriate for the role.
• They are part of a team with police officers and other members of the policing family, such as in a neighbourhood policing team.
• They work in a fixed local area to enable the build-up of trust and familiarity.
• They are working with young people and tackling low-level ASB.
• Their accessibility is used by practitioners in local strategies to tackle ASB.
• They are deployed within the local area in accordance with the National
• Intelligence Model to make most effective use of their role’ e.g. to hot spots of crime and ASB.
• They patrol on foot, but also engage with the local community through meetings and visits.
• They are accessible to the public with a contact number that is widely known and advertised in the locality.
• They are supervised from within the team and have regular contact with their supervisor.
• Their shifts are aligned with other members of the team.
• They are deployed by command and control to incidents, and these are within their beat area and appropriate to their powers, training and priorities.
• They are not given tasks that will detract from their primary reassurance role which is valued by the public.
• Their role is publicised and understood by the public.

Appendix 1

Environmental Powers

Transport powers

Alcohol and tobacco powers

Powers to tackle anti social behaviour

Enforcement powers

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