Praise for Specials

13 March 2023

Special Constables make an “immeasurable contribution” to policing and should be properly recognised for the work they do, according to Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell.

Luke was speaking after the role of the volunteer officers was celebrated by the Police Federation Specials lead.

He said: “It was such a pleasure to welcome Special Constables to the Police Federation last summer.

“The contribution they make to policing in Hertfordshire is immeasurable and deserves to be recognised.

“They are men and women who are driven by a desire to serve their communities and their dedication and commitment is truly inspiring.

“They bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience and the policing landscape would be very different without their extraordinary input.”

Luke Mitchell said Specials made an immeasurable contribution

Speaking on TalkTV as part of the channel’s Police Week, Police Federation Welsh affairs and Specials lead Nicky Ryan said Special Constables were an amazing asset and that the key roles they play were not always fully appreciated.

She said: “We need to acknowledge that day in, day out there are Special Constables up and down the country that are carrying out front line duties, detective roles, fighting cybercrime, roads policing - they cover the whole range of duties.

“The skills that policing gets from them can’t be quantified. They are an amazing asset. We have career Specials with 25 or 30 years’ service and they have so much knowledge and experience.”

Nicky said some people joined the Special Constabulary as a route into a career in policing while others chose to sign up because they wanted to serve their community.

She said several current Chief Constables and senior officers had begun their policing careers as Specials.

“We have 7,401 Special Constables in England and Wales and last year they volunteered more than 2.5 million hours to policing which equates to just over £61.5 million," she told TalkTV.

“Special Constables can and do perform most of the same duties as their paid colleagues.

“They wear the same uniform, they have the same policing powers and they are expected to perform to the same high standards - performance wise and ethics wise - as paid officers. The only difference is they are volunteers.”

Nicky Ryan described Specials as an 'amazing asset' to policing

Nicky said Specials were not paid but were reimbursed for any expenses and often volunteered through a strong sense of community and commitment.

“We have all sorts of people, airline pilots, young mums, students - we have a whole range of people from different backgrounds,” she said.

“People do it for a variety of different reasons and we get to utilise their skills and they learn new skills from policing.

“There are all sorts of areas of policing that are opening up to Specials because we now acknowledge the skills and depth of experience that they have.

“We have people from the banking sector, people from the cyber world with a range of skills that far surpasses what we have in policing.”

The Special Constabulary dates as far back as 1831 but Specials were only allowed to join the Police Federation last summer.