THE idea of putting civilian volunteers into uniforms and arming them with police powers is frankly worrying.
Under new plans from the Home Secretary, unpaid members of the public are to be allowed various powers including detaining suspects, interviewing victims and taking witness statements.
They’ll be known as Police Community Support Volunteers and be unlike either Special constables or Police Community Support Officers.
Apart from sounding like policing on the cheap, the scheme has plenty of pitfalls around screening and partiality. Personally, I want our police officers highly trained, full-time and with complete powers to uphold the law.
While the co-operation of the public is vital, there are potential problems involving volunteers in frontline policing.
No. Instead go with Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd’s plan for householders to pay an extra £10 a year to give us around 70 new GMP police officers. Quality counts here; the law needs the best.
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