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Police Service Volunteers

Within our Force this currently involves Regular Officers, Special Constables and Police Community Support Officers. But now Police Service Volunteers or put simply – Volunteers – have become the newest members. 

The government’s current focus on Neighbourhood Policing and its embedment across all our communities has created a unique opportunity to involve the community in policing. 

The Government's White Paper Building Communities, Beating Crime has as two of its three objectives: 

• To implement Neighbourhood Policing across all forces
• To involve the communities and citizens in the way they are policed.

What is a volunteer? 

A volunteer can be described as: 

“an individual with no police powers who through personal choice gives time and energy to perform tasks for their local force, without expectation or receipt of compensation, except for reimbursement of agreed out-of-pocket expenses. Volunteering is based on choice so there is no mutuality of obligation, i.e. the local force is not obliged to provide a role for the volunteer and the volunteer is not obliged to accept the proposed role”  Thames Valley Police 2008. 

They come from all walks of life and all parts of our communities. They bring to our Force all the richness of their life experiences, be they people who have just left school or have retired. 

We need to encapsulate and embrace their life skills and ensure that they assist us to reach our Force targets of community safety, reassurance and crime reduction. It is essential that community engagement is embraced at all levels and within all the pillars of our Force.  

Why does the Force want to involve volunteers in its delivery of policing? 

The greater use and involvement of volunteers is a crucial way in which we can better engage with our communities and deliver a more effective policing service. 

How will the volunteers fit into the wider organisation? 

It should be noted that volunteering is nothing new to Humberside Police. 

Our Special Constabulary has been providing us with invaluable support for many years and they have played an essential part in developing partnerships between Humberside Police and our communities. 

The unprecedented numbers of 350 active Special Constables bestows us with the ability to offer a greater police presence on those public order incidents where our finite regular resources would be considerably stretched. 

We should also note the invaluable assistance Neighbourhood Watch groups (HANWaG) provide. They have enabled individuals to offer practical support to Humberside Police, and by doing so have engendered a sense of responsibility and ownership for our communities in which they live and work. 

Our volunteers will complement this unique bond between Regular Officers, Police Community Support Officers and Special Constables.

What is the benefit to the community? 

Community engagement through volunteering promotes diversity and provides a mechanism for increased openness and transparency. It also encourages the development of an open and inclusive police force which reflects the diverse nature of the community it serves. It brings value and adds mutual benefit.

What is the difference between employees and volunteers? 

In order to understand the difference between paid employees and volunteers, it is important to recognise that voluntary work differs significantly from employment. 

Employees work under a contract of employment, volunteers do not. Volunteering is based on choice and not obligation, and as there is no link to wages, volunteer motivations will vary.