Police Community support Officer Role Being Reviewed by BMU Academic
Tuesday, 22 April, 2008
A De Montfort University (DMU) lecturer is investigating the future of police community support officers (PCSO).
Law academic Jonathan Merritt is looking into how their job will develop in a three year research project.
He is interested to find out if they are likely to stay as a support to police constables or if the role will evolve in the future; perhaps to have more in common with local municipal forces such as on the continent or in North America.
Since they were introduced in 2003 the officers sometimes called 'Blunkett's Bouncers' or 'plastic police' in the media, have been widely criticised for their perceived lack of powers. But Mr Merritt says they are currently helping police do the job they were trained to do.
He said: "Community support officers have been known to get a very hard time from all sides and it sometimes stems from a lack of understanding of the role".
"But, for a long time, the police have found it very hard to be both community bobbies and to respond to urgent 999 calls. It may be that PCSOs can allow police to concentrate on the highly skilled, highly specialised jobs they have the training and experience to do well, but only if the PCSO role is clearly defined and legislated for".
The next leg of the study is planned to take Mr Merritt to Canada for a three month study based in Toronto to look at how different layers of policing operate there.
"There are around 16,000 PCSOs patrolling the streets. It is important that the future of the role is understood for the reassurance of the public and the effectiveness of the officers themselves" he said.
Mr Merritt is currently quizzing police officers from forces across the country about how they see the role and how they think it could develop.
He added: "The criticism of PCSOs is nothing new. Back in the 1830s and 1840s the new police constables were described as 'inefficient', 'useless' and 'unnecessary'. Nevertheless the PC role has evolved to be the cornerstone of policing in this country."
