Empty yellow jackets designed to dampen the effect that unnecessary red tape had on Police visibility and the public perception of police effectiveness. It didn't work.
Not quite what they could be are they? When i was a kid the non-commisioned bobby was a 'Special Constable', Oh how we laughed.
Strange I understand that they do not have any powers to arrest you. If there is a problem they have to call for a constable.. if you decide to walk away there is nothing that they can do about it... weird! powchoy
No, and in many ways that's a good thing. PCSOs are not there entirely for enforcement, they are there for presence and for being a member of the police who is principally there to resolve situations without falling back on their powers; the removal of those powers forces one to be creative and use their personality and social-side. Depends on where you are, but if you're talking about TVP you would be wrong. If a person is detained and a Constable arrives they can be arrested then and there. If a person is detained and they then walk away that is an arrestable offence, and it can then happen slow-time; the person will have an unwelcome visitor in the morning when they are arrested. People often think that PCSOs have no powers, but it's kind of a misnomer. Yes, they as individuals have less law-enforcement powers, but they are equipped with mouths and with radios- and they know someone who can have people arrested. Also, in case you're wondering, yes I am training to be a PCSO. Need to sleep now because I have practicals for that tomorrow; dealing with youngin's I believe.
There is a rumour that after the 2012 Olympics that they will be gone. Also PCSO's can detain bt only for 30minutes, afterwards they got to let go. However by that time they have the details of the person detained and as Talyn says, it can occur slow time. I think PCSOs are useful regarding intelligence on local neighbourhoods and they have bought some ease to the community
However their allowed to carry handcuffs. Confusing. I like the idea of them. Using them to deal with community problems and freeing up PCs to deal with emergencies and serious crime works for me but there's a lot of room for improvement they definetly need some powers I've seen a few get some major abuse when they're intervening in something and their powerless to do anything. Or at least she didn't bother. Personally I would have them on callout for the 111 calls or whatever that number is for police support that aren't emergencies and have PCs on 999 standby. clear divide with powers and responsibilities and you free up PCs.
