Conservative PCC Pledges Two Hundred New Special Constables for Staffordshire

Staffordshire’s Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis said today that he aims to see the return of local bobbies to pound the streets of a dedicated beat.

Mr Ellis has also committed to giving special constables the same equipment as full-time police officers.

He said, “Specials are important people and have the opportunity to do more and I think we need a greater understanding of what they can do.  I want people who are recruited from within a specific area who will police in that community and be known by that community.

“We also need to look at joining up their expertise and seeing what they can offer the police service.  They have to be absolutely dedicated to the work they can do.

“The police force also has to make their job satisfaction better than it is now.  That is why for the first time I am going to issue them with the same standard of equipment as their full-time colleagues get.”

Mr Ellis said he was going to launch a review into the use of special constables to make sure they are used in the best possible way.

He continued, “We have special constables with one of the lowest levels of power in the country.  We need to improve that.  These people give up their time so we need to make sure we are giving them satisfaction and that their time is well spent.

“We need to get policing back to the way it was having the face on the street that everyone knows.  We’re not going to hurl away specials from the areas they come from; we are going to have them working in their communities.

“Police presence is one of the biggest issues for our communities and it was one of my pledges before the election.”

The pledge comes weeks after the force took on 14 new full-time police officers, bringing to an end a three-year recruitment freeze.