A celebration on the weekend of the work of 'Special Constables' makes me wonder whether they shouldn't be paid for the valuable contribution they make to keep our communities safe.We rightly pay those who serve us as part-time soldiers, so why not pay Special Constables too?
In any event, it was well worth celebrating the valuable contribution to policing by the Special Constabulary over the past 175 years and to thank those who give their time freely to protect the rest of us.
About half the 168 Specials serving within the Lincolnshire attended the event, along with Lincolnshire Chief Constable Tony Lake.
They heard Cheshire Chief Constable Peter Fahy's keynote address in which he spoke of the amazing role of the Specials.
Mr Fahy, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on Special Constables said:
...We give these volunteers the same powers and the same uniform as full time officers. Across the country we are seeing the number of Specials increasing as more local people want to play their part in keeping their neighbourhood safer.Should they be paid? What do you think?
We realise that we need to bridge the gap between police and public and the Special Constabulary is a powerful way of doing this as it gets members of the public involved in the very heart of policing.
2 comments:
And just where is the money going to come from Phil?
Certain socialists seem to think that it grows on trees.
Geoffrey:
Do you agree with the principle that Specials should be paid...?
Of course, we have to consider where the money would come from...
But when you have a strong, stable, growing economy, you can deliver fairness.
When you have two and a half million more people in work - rather than 3 million on the dole as we had under the Tories - you can afford to tackle issues.
That's how Labour has managed to put 14,000 extra police on our streets than we had under the Tories - not to mention 11,000 Community Support Officers who are also doing such a great job.
Isn't it great that we can now put things right that have been wrong for too long - example this week being finding the money to pay the Ghurkas the proper pensions that they've been denied by successive Governments for over a century.
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