Volunteering in the Police Service

Abstract

From joining the ranks of the Special Constabulary, to assisting at front counters, to providing administrative support, opportunities for volunteers are diffused throughout the modern police service. Contemporary political discourse highlights wide-ranging benefits which are assumed to flow from the recruitment of volunteers. It has been hoped that volunteers can form a ‘bridge’ between the regular police service and citizens, improve mutual knowledge and understanding and, through increasing the diversity of the police service, increase legitimacy. The role of the volunteer has been reinforced within discourses of self-policing, responsibilisation and active citizenship, themes highly visible in New Labour and Coalition discourse, as we have seen throughout this monograph. Volunteers have also been promoted as a way of improving efficiency and effectiveness of policing, especially in times of fiscal contraction and constraint. However, whilst volunteers have been utilised within the mixed economy of policing for many years, the role that volunteers play within police practice is under researched. Despite the benefits proffered by successive governments, we know very little about the characteristics and motivations of those who volunteer, their impact on efficiency and effectiveness of the police service or the implications of this sizable volunteer ‘force’ for accountability, regulation and equity.