Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs)

Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) UPDATE January 2010 1

Introduction Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) have been around in Hertfordshire for six years. They are a familiar sight on our streets and in our public spaces, spending over 80% of their time on visible patrol in their communities, dealing with local problems that matter to local people. This short guide aims to give you an insight into their significant impact and successes since their introduction. WHY WERE THEY INTRODUCED? PCSOs were introduced: To be a visible foot patrolling representative of law and order, providing public reassurance and to assist with the prevention of crime and disorder within the community, complementing the work of police officers by focusing on lower level crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour. They achieve this through: Undertaking high visibility foot patrol, normally on their own, providing reassurance and helping to increase feelings of safety Complementing, not replacing, other police resources Maximising contact and maintaining close links across communities Acting as a tactical resource for tasking by Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs), other funding partners and police to reduce crime, nuisance and anti-social behaviour. Reducing crime, fear of crime, gathering intelligence and being able to actively be involved in local problem solving Carrying out enforcement activity against low level nuisance and anti social behaviour. They also offer specialist services to schools (through the 38 youth and schools PCSOs funded by Hertfordshire County Council) and to rural communities where the different rhythms and subtleties of rural life are built into their training and deployment. 2

HOW MANY ARE THERE? PCSOs were introduced in 2003, with the first batch of 14 PCSOs funded by the Home Office. Since then, numbers have increased considerably, heavily backed by Hertfordshire County Council and other local funding partners, and today 261 PCSOs are deployed daily into our local communities. WHAT ARE THEIR POWERS? PCSOs now carry out a wider range of duties than was the case with the first recruits. They are not just an accessible patrolling and reassuring policing presence, they are there to take action in the face of long standing problems involving crime and antisocial behaviour and to be an influential presence in communities. PCSOs have powers that complement their role in enforcing low level nuisance and antisocial behaviour include being able to issue Penalty Notices for offences such as disorder and criminal damage. They also have other powers such as those to deal with truancy, confiscation of alcohol. PCSOs do not have a power of arrest but in Hertfordshire they have been given the power to detain for 30 minutes to await the arrival of a police officer. This is a hands off power. We do not expect PCSOs to be assigned or required to resolve violent situations. HOW ARE THEY TRAINED? The current PCSO training programme is five weeks and one day. It covers law input on a variety of offences, youth issues (to include Anti Social Behaviour Orders, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and curfews), IT and staff protection training. It also covers diversity and the training culminates in a practical exercise and final knowledge check. Additional training is also supplied to meet partners objectives. 3

WHAT IMPACT HAVE THEY HAD? We know that our citizens want visible policing and Hertfordshire s arrangements for PCSOs fill that need. These arrangements ensure that against a number of reassurance, confidence and satisfaction measures Hertfordshire is one of the best performing counties in the country. Since the early 2000 s Hertfordshire residents have felt that crime and anti-social behaviour were the most important issues affecting their quality of life. However, in recent years, whilst they still see these as the most important issues affecting quality of life in the County, they no longer see these as the issues most in need of improvement. Additionally, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour were at high levels, impacting seriously on the quality of life in the county. Those levels have fallen significantly and, at the same time, public confidence that the police and local councils are dealing with the crime and anti-social behaviour issues that matter has risen. The positive effect of PCSOs is ongoing their visible presence helping to drive up Hertfordshire s performance against National Indicator 21 which asks the question of our public (British Crime Survey): How much would you agree or disagree that the police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in this area? Hertfordshire rates have increased as shown below and are above the national average: Hertfordshire: To September 2008 49.7% To March 2009 53.2% To June 2009 54.6% England and Wales Average: To March 2009 49.0% 4

The most recent HMIC inspections of Hertfordshire s delivery of neighbourhood policing arrangements and citizen focus style graded Hertfordshire excellent for citizen focus and good for neighbourhood policing. These grades are testament to the work of Hertfordshire PCSOs and their police officer colleagues in partnership with Hertfordshire s local authorities and other partners. PCSOs are at the core of these improvements. As funding becomes an ever more difficult issue over the next few years, it is critical to recognise the success story that PCSOs represent and continue to invest in a proven mechanism to improve the quality of life in the county. In addition we should not forget that overall recorded crime has decreased by well over 20%, or around twenty-one thousand fewer offences in the past five years. Hertfordshire is a safer county and the presence of over 260 extra uniformed staff patrolling our streets, providing community intelligence on criminals, has contributed to this. WHO FUNDS THEM? PCSOS are funded not just by the Police Authority and Hertfordshire County Council, but also by a range of other funding partners, including 7 district / borough councils, town and parish councils, schools consortia, housing associations, the University of Hertfordshire and industry. WHY DO ORGANISATIONS FUND PCSOs? Many local authorities and other partners have recognised that PCSOs can contribute greatly to achieving their own objectives, as well as improving the lives and safety of their publics. This has been encouraged by the continued pledge from the Constabulary to match fund any PCSO funded by partners. 5

As a result, nearly 8 million of funding is in place to support PCSOs across the County. A list of current funding partners is given at Annex B. Our communities have benefited from these joint funding arrangements, which have made Hertfordshire a national leader in regard to partner funding of PCSOs. The Constabulary s long standing offer to match fund any partner who wishes to invest in one or more PCSOs so as to improve community reassurance and safety remains good and we would welcome discussions with any partner who wishes to explore this option. Partner contributions are by way of a fixed sum per PCSO, normally agreed for a twoyear period through a Service Level Agreement. In recognition of the increasing financial constraints we are all under in the current climate, the Constabulary once again will keep the cost for each PCSO unchanged at 28,500 for 2010/11, the same level as when the incentivisation scheme was introduced back in 2006/07. WHAT ARE THE RISKS AROUND LOSING FUNDING IN HERTS? For the future, Home Office funding is dependent upon Hertfordshire Constabulary having a minimum number of 252 PCSO posts filled on 31 st March each year. Should numbers fall below this, then the Constabulary will lose grant for each unfilled post. Therefore, the contribution that the Constabulary s partners make to the funding of PCSOs is extremely valuable. In addition, because of the match funded criteria placed on the Home Office grant, for every partner post lost, at least one additional Constabulary post will also be lost. 6

Appendix A Examples of PCSO work in our Communities. These PCSOs and their work were all nominated by local residents and partners as candidates for the Police Authority PCSO of the year in 2009. These citations illustrate the broad range of work PCSOs carry out in our communities. Watford PCSO Dominic Tokarczyk Dominic has provided a proactive approach to dealing with empty properties and reducing crime. Working for and with housing providers he has worked with disengaged youths to provide a wide range of diversionary activity ranging from football coaching to a fishing club. He also arranged for them to be actively involved in clearing the area of litter before the activities can take place. Dacorum PCSO Colin Arnott Colin worked very closely with the local school, arranging assemblies and student drop-ins. A community safety event for year 7 students has been developed as have links between the school and the community. He works with both students and parents and attends multi-agency meetings providing awareness on bullying and e- safety. Three Rivers PCSO Tania Stabler Tania works with the local school and residents association and through the Leavesdon steering group she has driven a reduction in anti-social behaviour through a multi-agency group dealing with local youths. She has also forged strong links with the shops and businesses in Chorleywood where she is a trusted figure. This in turn has led to an increase in intelligence and information in relation to local crime and anti-social behaviour. A 15% reduction in crime in Chorleywood is the result. Welwyn Hatfield PCSO Rob Taylor Rob has regular meetings with the chair of the local parish council and school and an excellent knowledge of the community and problem areas. Residents report that it is a long time since they felt so secure and that levels of crime are at the lowest they can remember. Hertsmere PCSO Paul Purvis Paul has run many successful crime prevention events, including the PL8 safe campaign (theft of number plates) and the Bushey Crime House (a burglary reduction initiative). These events have been run in conjunction with partners and Paul has been the catalyst for joint working between police and the fire service. Local issues have been addressed and the community report feeling safe and have an increased level of public reassurance. Hertford PCSO Neil Major Neil makes regular visits to the community and local people report an increased feeling of reassurance. Vandalism and minor theft have decreased. 7

Broxbourne PCSO Terasa Vaux Terasa has daily contact with schools, dealing with anti-social behaviour and keeping young people on track and supporting them with their acceptable behaviour contracts. Terasa has a close working relationship with the fire and rescue service and she has helped with the development of Crucial Crew. She also deals extensively with antisocial behaviour at the weekends. Stevenage PCSO Steve Sherlock Steve has arranged proactive operations with the council to target the sale of alcohol to underage drinkers and he conducts high visibility patrols on cycle around the numerous cycle paths of the town. North Herts PCSO Penny Tomsett Penny regularly attends locality meetings with the council and arranges informal meetings with the community. She engages with local councillors and has increased the flow of communication between local groups and young people. With her local council she has arranged several environmental action days and is reported as always being available on her beat. 8

Appendix B Local Authority PCSO EXTERNAL FUNDING STREAMS Posts* Hertfordshire County Council 800.0 2009/10 SLA Expiry Funding( 000s) Date Berkhamsted TC 0.5 14.3 31/03/10 Broxbourne BC 3.0 85.5 31/03/12 Broxbourne Schools Consortium 0.5 14.3 31/03/11 Broxbourne Housing Association 0.5 14.2 31/08/10 Chorleywood PC 1.0 28.5 31/03/10 Codicote PC 0.5 14.3 31/03/11 Croxley Green PC 1.0 28.5 31/03/10 Dacorum BC 2.0 60.0 31/03/10 East Herts. DC 4.0 73.5 31/03/10 East Herts DC (pending from Area Based Grant) 41.0 31/03/10 Elstree and Borehamwood TC 0.5 14.5 tbc Hatfield TC 1.0 28.5 31/03/11 Hertsmere BC 4.5 128.0 31/03/11 Kimpton and Ickleford PC 0.5 14.2 31/03/10 Letchworth TC (see note) 0.5 14.3 31/03/10 Northaw and Cuffley PC 0.5 14.2 31/03/11 Oaklands College 0.5 14.3 14/09/10 Redbourne and Wheathampstead PCs 0.5 14.2 31/05/10 Riversmead Housing Association 1.0 28.5 01/04/11 Sainsbury s (London Colney) 1.0 28.5 31/08/11 South Anglia Housing (Bishop Stortford) 0.5 14.3 31/03/11 Standon PC 0.5 14.2 31/03/11 Stevenage BC 3.0 85.5 31/03/10 Three Rivers DC 2.0 57.0 31/03/10 University of Hertfordshire 1.0 28.5 31/03/11 Watford Rural PC 0.5 14.2 31/03/10 Welcome Break (South Mimms) 0.5 14.5 tbc Welwyn Hatfield BC 3.0 85.5 31/03/11 TOTAL 34.5 1,787.0 * Note re post numbers and funding for some of the posts listed, match funding from the Home Office Grant doubles the post number i.e. funding for half a post is match funded and becomes one full time PCSO 9