Community practical days for PCSO's at Bridgend Designer outlet
South Wales Police have held community practical days at McArthur Glen retail park as part of Police Community Support Officers training.
The Learning and Development Services Programme is the new Training Programme for police community support officer recruits. The first part of the Programme is an initial 6week training course, which officers will undertake within South Wales Police.
The Home Office have outlined the emphasis to involve members of the community in the delivery of police training, and the Programme has been developed to ensure that members of the public are included in various training activities.
One such activity is the Community Practical Day, which has been held at the McArthurGlenRetailPark, in Bridgend. The community based training involved 40 Student Police Community Support Officers, who are to be deployed force wide, going into a local area and engaging in scenarios where they can put the legislation and procedures that they have learnt in the classroom, into practice.
The training scenarios included lost medication in a supermarket, theft from a motor vehicle, a lost child, intelligence on a burglary, and a witness to a vehicle break in. In order to make this even more realistic than it ever has been before, the scenarios will be “acted” by role actors from within South Wales Police. The scenarios took place simultaneously in and around the retail park, and each scenario was controlled by an experienced officer who assessed the student officer’s performance and provided feedback.
Role actors wore civilian clothing to add to the authenticity, and the Student Police Community Support Officers wore high visibility jackets with the words ‘Student Officer’ on the back and were in full uniform. The assessors also wore high visibility jackets with the words ‘Police Trainer ‘on the back.
At each scenario location, a sign was placed in the vicinity, to inform the public that a police training exercise was taking place.
In addition to the Community Practical Day being of benefit to the Student Police Community Support Officers, it was hoped that the public gained some valuable insight into the police service through observing and interacting with the Student Police Community Support Officers. It is hoped that the day will assist in building mutual trust and respect between members of the Community and South Wales Police.
South Wales Police Acting Chief Constable Giles York stated “The Community Practical Day represents an exciting development in the training of student police officers, which facilitates community engagement, and enables members of the public to become actively involved in the training of officers. This aspect of training will continue to be developed, and will equip officers with the skills to meet the needs of their communities.”
South Wales Police Learning and Development Services Chief Inspector Keith Jones stated “It was a good opportunity for the student officers to engage with community members at a very early stage of training, and will provide them with the skills to better police their communities. Furthermore the feedback from the public has been very positive, who actively observed the training scenarios, and talked with officers.”
Bridgend Designer Outlet Facilities Manager Wayne Morgan stated “I was extremely pleased to offer the Designer Outlet Retail environment to the South Wales Police training department. The initiative has provided a high profile police presence throughout the site during the busy Christmas period, with high visibility patrols in the shopping areas, food court, Odeon Cinema, Sainsbury’s supermarket, and the car parks. McArthur Glen and the Derwen Business Partnership hope to further develop this training initiative, and to provide continued support for the student officers.”
The benefits to the Community of training within a Community environment
A greater understanding of police practices and procedures leading to increased confidence in the service.
The development of contacts and partnerships.
Opportunities for people (particularly those from minority groups) to interact with student-officers and maybe become interested in joining the service themselves in the future.
A chance for people within the community to offer views on gaps in policing skills.
A high profile police presence in a public area, which will have the effect of deterring criminal activity and offering public reassurance.
Increased levels of trust and confidence in the police.
Creating a transparency in the way we conduct elements of police training, encouraging observation and feedback from the public.
The benefits to the Police Service of training within a Community environment
Increased realism - members of the community who take part simply ‘being themselves’ as opposed to Police Officers acting-out a role, which should result in more effective training.
Representation within training from the people we seek to police.
Development of contacts and partnerships within our communities.
Improved knowledge and increased awareness of community issues by student-officers.
Opportunities to tap into the skills, knowledge and experience of diverse communities and an enhancement of the understanding of such communities.
A more responsive, customer-focused service, sensitive to the needs of the community.