Police Community Support Officer (PCSO)

Do you want to fight against a range of crimes/disorder problems and really support your local community, then the role of a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) would be for you!

Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) act as a key liaison point between local communities and policing. Public facing, they provide a visible, accessible, and approachable uniformed presence in the community to offer reassurance, defuse situations with threats of conflict, improve confidence and trust, gather information, and foster good community relations.

This role holds designated PCSO legal powers of enforcement in line with local force requirements to support the successful resolution, prevention, and deterrent of local crime. PCSOs are expected to respond to a wider range of non-criminal issues that contribute to vulnerability and safety within the community. They will be expected to act with discretion, making appropriate use of their designated powers and acting within force guidelines.

Key Accountabilities

• PCSOs will patrol on foot, in uniform, to provide a highly visible policing presence in communities. PCSOs will get to know their allocated area and its residents and will focus on long-term problem solving to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in their area as well as improve community confidence.
• Develop close working relationships with key community bodies such as local councils, schools, housing associations and community organisations, to gather and provide information, support the vulnerable, promote community cohesion, and identify and tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour.
• Develop effective relationships with individuals, including people who are vulnerable and at risk, across the community, providing support and guidance to identify root causes, assess needs, prevent crime, respond to concerns, and build trust in policing.
• While patrolling, PCSOs will deal with incidents they encounter and will be responsible for enforcing law on the streets, calling on police officer colleagues where needed. In such instances, PCSOs will support Police Officers in initial front-line response to incidents enabling resolution to and/or preventing escalation of low-level offending in line with their designated powers and remit, to ensure immediate public safety.
• Engage with the public by conducting house-to-house enquiries to identify issues affecting residents as well as giving appropriate crime prevention advice.
• PCSOs will promote Derbyshire Alert to the public, both by encouraging residents to sign up and by creating and distributing interesting and relevant material via the system. PCSOs will also make good use of organisational social media profiles to communicate with their communities.
• As a key element of the role is upon crime prevention and long-term community development, we are looking for candidates who are happy to make a long-term commitment to the role.
• Support the implementation of problem solving and evidence based policing initiatives by championing and applying relevant methodologies and approaches to the area of work.

The must haves

• Level 2 English (GCSE Grade 9-4) (A-C) or equivalent, or able to use English Language to that standard.
• You must be 17 ½ years old on application and 18 years old on appointment.
• You must be available to work between 8.00am and midnight, seven days a week.
• Willingness to patrol independently, including lone patrol on late shifts.
• You must have sufficient fitness to patrol the streets on foot or bicycle for long periods of time and in all weather conditions.

What’s in it for you?

At Derbyshire Constabulary, we aim to create an environment that puts people first. We want you to feel supported in everything you do, so you can give your very best. What’s more, we have a range of reward and benefits that if you join us you could enjoy.

Salary and Shift Allowance

• £21,018 for the first 6 weeks of training.
• £26,836 after training to include shift allowance and weekend working.
• Successful applicants would normally be appointed on the bottom of the salary range (Exceptions may apply).
• You will receive 14% shift allowance after the initial 6-week training.
• You will work 34.25 weekend hours per month, for which you will receive an enhancement of 50%.

Next Steps

If we feel like a place where you can belong, we'd love to learn more about you. Please click apply to complete your application. To support you with your application we have provided some application useful guidance and to understand our recruitment process.

To find out more, register for our upcoming information webinars click here. New dates are added on a regular basis, so please check back.

Vacancy closes on Wednesday, 5 July 2023 at 23:55.

Interview will be held in August and September 2023.

Who we are

Here at Derbyshire Constabulary, Police doesn't have to mean patrolling the streets. Just as important as our uniformed officers is our strong team of professional and support staff working behind the scenes. It’s these skilled people, people like you who contribute to the policing of Derbyshire.

To understand how you can make Derbyshire safer together visit our careers website.

We welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds and encourage anyone who has considered a career in policing to apply. We’re particularly keen to increase the number of females and candidates from black and minority ethnic communities and the LGBT community, so that we can truly reflect the communities that we serve in.