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Special constable
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A special constable is a law enforcement officer who is not a regular member of a police force or is a member of a volunteer police auxiliary. Many police departments are complemented by a Special Constabulary, members of which are referred to as special constables, or, more colloquially, “specials.” Historically and in different contexts, special constables have been paid or volunteer, members of an ad hoc reserve force or a permanent auxiliary, and have ranged from unarmed patrols to armed paramilitaries.
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In Australia, the role of the Special Constable no longer exsists apart from a loose reference used to describe aboriginal trackers in the Northern Territories. As recently as the 1970s, all policewomen were classed as Special Constables. New South Wales Police did try introduce Specials in the 1990s but this was not successful due to opposition from Police unions.[1] With the exception of the Northern Territories, the only police volunteer schemes operated by most states are non-uniformed crime prevention advisers who have no police powers.
Today in Canada the term Special Constable does not mean a Police Volunteer, Special Constables are employed by Police Departments to undertake specific duties such as Court Officer, Operating Speed checks, often duties which do not require the full powers of a police officer. In one area of Ontario the municipal policing contract was awarded to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. As RCMP Constables only have Federal/National powers in Onatrio (with the exception of the capital) they had to be sworn in as Special Constables. Police volunteers in Canada are called Auxiliary Constables. Special Constables were used extensively in Canada prior to the Second World War to quell labour unrest. After the war, industrial relations became far less militant and many of the larger urban police forces created permanent auxiliary units. The most notorious use of special constables in Canadian history was during the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. The entire Winnipeg police force was fired because its members refused to sign an anti-union pledge and was replaced by a much larger and better paid force of untrained Special Constables explicitly to crush the strike and the police union.
The duties of a Special Constable include:[2]
- Transporting prisoners to and from various courts and institutions. Maintain security and wellbeing of prisoners during transportation and in court.
- Maintain security of court rooms and buildings
- Effect arrests, search and seizure as required. Physically capable of restraining and subduing prisoners.
- Related clerical/administrative duties as assigned.
- Report writing as required.
- Act as a witness during statement taking of accused persons or prisoners and recording witness statements if required.
- Fingerprint and photograph accused persons.
- Assist Police Officers in court and related duties as required
- Testify in court when required.
- Maintain detailed legible notes regarding events, investigations, interviews and other pertinent information during their tour of duty in their duty books.
- Place their duty books in the proper receptacle at the end of their tour of duty.
- Assist the Officer-in-Charge of the lock-up in monitoring and caring for prisoners.
- Required to use police equipment such as ASP Baton, handcuffs, pepper spray, computer, or any other related items.
- Must successfully complete Use of Force Training (on the Use of Force options issued) on a yearly basis.
- Any other duties as may be assigned from time to time.
'An Garda Síochána na hÉireann Reserve'
The first 40 recruits started training on 30 September 2006 from an intial application pool of 6,661, There were 400 candidates who were processed. The first 40 recruits graduated on 16 December 2006 and will have to complete two years probation.
A Garda Reserve will be required to work a minimum of 208 hours per year, with minimum tour durations of 4 hours.
Duties
- Station Duty (other than care & custody of detained persons)
- Communications Rooms
- Foot patrols
- Static Security duty
- Event policing
- Assisting at road traffic checkpoints, collisions, fires, major emergencies, etc.
- Community / Neighbourhood policing.
- Preserving crime scenes.
- Court attendance (as witnesses)
Reservists will not be deployed in plain clothes, carry firearms or drive Garda vehicles. Duties and powers assigned to Garda Reserves will be commensurate to their training and will primarily involve legislation relating to road traffic, public order, drugs, theft & burglary. Garda Reserves will be permitted limited access to the PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively) system.
Garda Reserves will not be assigned to patrol their own neighbourhoods and they will be accompanied by a full time member while on duty. They will be subject to the same standards, discipline and procedures as that of full time Gardaí, along with the relevant provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1963 and the Garda Síochána Act, 2005.[3]
Since 1975, National service conscripts in Singapore have been used as special constables as part of the Singapore Police Force in addition to their role in the Singapore Armed Forces and Singapore Civil Defense Force. These special constables undergo training at the Home Team Academy where they study police protocol and the penal code. After training, they are posted to various specialized police departments, where they may undergo further training. Civilians who contribute to the force on a voluntary basis belong to an organisation known as the Volunteer Special Constabulary, which is a department of the regular police force.
English special constables have manifested as various legal entities since 1673, but the modern-day Special Constabulary traces its roots to the 1831 “Act for amending the laws relative to the appointment of special constables, and for the better preservation of the Police,” which was passed as a response to industrial violence. The role of special constables was redefined into its present incarnation during the First World War when a large force was recruited to both compensate for the loss of regular members who joined the war effort and to add an extra layer of protection during war time. Special Constables were also an important component of the state’s response to the 1918 and 1919 police strikes and the UK General Strike of 1926.
Special Constables have all the legal powers of their Regular counterparts, except that these powers are limited geographically to their own force area and to each force area contiguous with their own. Regular officers powers extend throughout England and Wales.
Special Constables are awared the Queen's Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct, on the completion of nine years service with a minimum of fifty tours of duty each year. A Bar is added to the medal for each subsequent ten years of service.
Special Constables are unpaid, but may receive reimbursement for mileage and other expenses incurred.
In Northern Ireland the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC (RUC) employed both full time and part time Reserve Constables, the difference being that full time Reserve Officers manned static security points, Part time Constables carried out similar duties to their Special Constabulary counterparts elsewhere in the UK.
With the assimiliation of the RUC into the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI),171 Part time Constables were appointed in Banbridge, Newtownabbey, Coleraine and Lisburn District Command Units (DCUs). Existing part-time Constables were offered training to meet new standards of the PSNI[4]
The Ministry of Defence employs Civilian Security Officers for its Northern Ireland Guard Service, these have Special Constable Status.The NIGS is a unionised, non-industrial civilian Armed Guard Service under the authority of the General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland) who holds ultimate responsibility for the operation of the organisation. A Civilian Security Officer (CSO) is attested by a resident magistrate as a Special Constable whilst on duty within MOD property. They hold similar powers to that of a Police Constable based on the Emergency Laws (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1947. A CSO has the powers of arrest under the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (PACE).[5]
Current powers are defined in the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 (as currently amended) and ensuing legislation.
The Royal Irish Constabulary began recruiting special constables in the 1920s, largely as a reaction to the Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the south and west of Ireland were the Black and Tans and the Auxiliary Division. The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) operated in the northeast and were the main bulwark against IRA activity. The USC was divided into three armed sections: A Specials (full-time and paid), B Specials (part-time and paid an allowance), and the C Specials (unpaid and non-uniformed reservists).