Colleagues,
****** Following a meeting yesterday and agreement of the Deputy Chief Constable today, I can confirm that the same designation as regulars, but without the regular insignia, has been agreed and will take effect from 1st September 2011.
This means:
Section Officer will become Special Sergeant
Assistant Divisional Officer will become Special Inspector
Divisional Officer will become Special Chief Inspector
******** In terms of the SC site, we are still in negotiations, albeit the process has been delayed due to a revamp of the intranet.
******** I will be running seminars across the three areas shortly and this will be an opportunity to meet with me, your SC senior management team and SSF HR to discuss the restructure, your concerns and our vision to take the Special Constabulary to the next level. To make it worthwhile we need good attendance. Dates will be published shortly.
Regards,
Ian.
Sir, I am a special from Dyfed-Powys, just wanted to say how nice it is to see a senior officer using some form of social media to keep their specials informed of the progress being made. Also nice to see that yourselves up in the good old 'Gogledd' are mirroring what we did last year in regards to restructuring the rank or grading system for specials from section officers etc, so that it mirrors that of our regular colleagues. DPP were the first to do this in Wales and I hope that SWP and Gwent soon follow suit. We also have a special constabulary part of our Intranet and it is very useful, as a point of reference for regular officers to find their relevant SC supervisors / call signs, or for specials to see what their colleagues across the force are up to as well as being able to find notes and powerpoints on police powers etc.
With the budget cuts over the United Kingdom in the next few years, and recently with the public disorder across the country, Specials are playing a vital role in supporting the police service and the communities we serve across Wales. As the NPIA have said over the past year retention of Special Constables is one of the biggest problems we face, and forces (including DPP) need to look at how specials are managed, as we are being relied on more and more yet in my force the expectation of us is somewhat higher than practical, as we are expected to cover (on a response basis) a large policing area yet are not given the proper driving courses to be able to respond appropriately. If the appropriate training is available for such things then retention across my own force, and others if they followed suit would be greater. Better trained specials are more efficient specials.
