Police Community Support Officers are usually uniformed civilians either paid or voluntary that  support local police on the front lines and are there to assist them when required. They don’t have any actual police powers and can’t arrest people, but can hand out fines and take on an advisory role within the local community.

You may be wondering what the point of these uniformed civilians if they can’t arrest people; might just be easier to go around and sort the problem out with a local mob of neighbourhood watch members instead.

Actually the police have given themselves a bad reputation in the run down areas; in some places the personal bias and disdain shown towards people is what causes even more problems, such as violent attacks on police officers. They have a habit of turning the victim into the criminal and making more enemies in these run down communities and don’t actually solve any of the real underlying issues.

It took a while for the Community Support Officers to gain recognition and respect within the local communities, but they are getting it and doing a lot more for the communities that the police ever could. Their roles are much more involved than that of the actual police, as they take an active part in building and maintaining community relations, by being there for people at times of engagement and offer consultation; they show no bias towards the people they are helping as many are from within the local community and understand the underlying issues and genuinely want to help.

When your in a run down area and see regular police walking down the street out on patrol you can always feel the tension from the people around them as they pass by, and sometimes they are swore at or have things thrown at them, and then give chase. Yet after a couple of years when people realised the Community Support officers are not the same as the police; people became more accepting and you could see that those who caused trouble with the police, did so not because they were criminals, but rather because they or somebody they know had been a victim of a crime and treated badly by the police. With Community Support Officers they stand in the shops and act as security guards because they are not on the clock and are volunteers; they sometimes hand out leaflets about things going on in the local area, and are there to help you if you need something. What’s more surprising is seeing them help an elderly woman to her car, which is something that is not seen in some areas any more because of fear of being sued if the elderly person trips as your helping them and gets hurt; or letting their guard down and being attacked as they help somebody to their car.

They are the visible presence within your local community, so much better than the regular police, and they will help with the underlying social problems, by not segregating people and therefore not adding to the problem; just there in an advisory role in a non bias way working along side the police within your local community.