UK: Traffic wardens, special constables and civilians to get police powers?
01 August 2001
With the drive to recruit tens of thousands of new police officers looking unlikely to attract enough applicants, the Home Office has come up with a number of ideas to bolster police numbers and visibility using traffic wardens, special constables and civilians.
The central tenet of plans drawn-up by civil servants is the creation of a new "police auxiliary force" of traffic and street wardens. Nineteen sets of extra powers have been proposed covering a range of traffic and vehicle offences (at present traffic wardens can only issue fixed penalty notices), enforcement of anti-noise and litter and laws, patrolling "crime hot-spots" and a "limited power of detention". The proposals were presented at a meeting in August to a "staggered" Police Federation. One representative said "it was the first time we had heard of this and we felt the Home Office was trying to railroad us into it".
"Custody civilians" to reduce the workload of officers at police stations were another suggestion. They would be empowered to conduct breath-tests in drink-driving cases, take fingerprints and DNA samples from people arrested, interview suspects and prepare files for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Up to 30,000 "special constables" - police volunteers - should be recruited and paid a tax free sum of £2,500 per year for weekly shifts of eight hours to increase street patrols with real police officers. At present they are only entitled to have their expenses reimbursed.
The wider use of non-police "experts", seconded to particular investigations or specialist departments, was also floated. Under the scheme computer specialists would be brought in to help combat "cybercrime", accountants would assist in fraud cases and surveillance specialists, private detectives and former security service personnel would become more involved with "intelligence-led" policing. Those experts who wanted to join the police but had been put off by low wages and the training requirement that they spend time in uniform patrolling the streets could be "fast-tracked".
The government is due to present a White Paper on police reforms to parliament by the end of 2001; formal proposals will follow in the new year.
Sunday Times, 19.8.01; Independent, 20.8.01.