Kent Police volunteers

Our volunteers give their time in a number of roles including:

helping on the front desk of police stations
supporting investigating officers
taking part in community events
acting as mystery shoppers.

You can find out more about volunteering with us on our dedicated Volunteers page.

Have a look at our online video where some current volunteers talk about their work for Kent Police and why they volunteer.

How to become a volunteer

To become a volunteer at Kent Police, please email Catherine Mulholland, Volunteers Co-ordinator or call 01622 653212.

Read about some of our volunteers

Spotlight on... Ellan Iaquaniello

Ellan Iaquaniello, 38, volunteers in a marketing support role for our Partnership and Communities team, helping to promote the great work that our volunteers and Special Constables do within Kent Police.

Ellan told us that she has been working on a video, which will be used to help promote the work of our volunteers. The video, which is nearly finished, hopes to raise the profile of volunteers internally, by showing officers and staff how we utilise our volunteers skills and expertise to help support their roles; and externally, with the view to entice members of the public that are interested in volunteering into getting in touch with us.

Having worked here for over a year now, Ellan speaks about her role and how she first became involved in volunteering at Kent Police.

Joining Kent Police

‘Joining as a volunteer was easy. I read information about the opportunities available on the Kent Police website and rang the volunteer team for a chat about applying.

I was invited to an interview soon after, which was great. I was asked about my past work experience, so I explained that before having my child I worked as a marketing manager for Marks and Spencer. My interviewer, Catherine Mulholland was excellent, the whole process was very relaxed and she was interested to learn about my past, placing me in a role that would utilise my strengths so I could be a real asset to the organisation.’

Fitting volunteering around a paid job

‘Since starting my volunteering role I applied, and was successful, for a part time role for Kent Keylink. Kent Keylink is a non-profit organisation that works out of Kent Police Headquarters. We offer the opportunity for residents to give us specific details about their homes, for example, dates of any planned holidays they have, if elderly people live with them, details of their nominated key holder and their contact number etc, that we keep a record of so if anything was to happened at their home whilst they were away, Kent Police can access their information and respond accordingly.

For a small yearly fee, customers have access to our database where they can change and add details to keep their information up-to-date. I help with promoting the service and getting new customers. All profits are fed into crime prevention initiatives around the county. It’s a great scheme, so when the opportunity came up I grabbed it with both hands.’

For more information on Key Keylink or to become a member please visit our Kent Keylink section.

‘Having the part-time role still meant I could continue my volunteering work with the Partnership and Communities team which was ideal for me. The hours are flexible and I still get to take and pick up my child from school. They are happy to work around my schedule and I always feel like a valued member of the team. I am treated no different to any other employee and everyone here is lovely and so easy to get on with.’

Get involved

‘Working as a volunteer makes you feel like your doing good in your community and I would say to anyone that is interested, just give the team a call and see if you can help out.'

Spotlight on... Robyn Cottrell

Robyn Cottrell from the research department at Kent Police works with volunteers to carry out mystery shopping exercises.

Robyn said: 'Our mystery shopping volunteers contact Kent Police to make every day general enquiries, as a member of the public might do, in a number of different ways'

'We carry out mystery shopping so we can assess the quality of service people receive from us, giving us the chance to find out where we're doing the right thing and where we need to improve. It also gives us the chance to commend staff when they do a good job and to share this with others in the force.'

Training

'I train the volunteers at the Kent Police College and explain what we need them to do and how the mystery shopping works. In these training sessions, the volunteers can ask any questions they have and talk about any previous experiences they've had.'

'To help, the mystery shopper volunteers are also given a booklet which gives them ideas about enquiries we'd like them to make and ways to approach it.'

'We then set them their mystery shopping task!'

The exercise

'This task isn't compulsory and any time the volunteers can spare on it is appreciated. Any more than that, we can't say or it won't be a mystery!

We reimburse any expenses our volunteers may get as part of the task, including telephone calls and mileage (to the training or front counter for example).

Mystery shopping is a really valuable exercise for us to be able to carry out to help us develop the way we answer enquiries and the service we provide to the people of Kent.'

Spotlight on... Joanna Howard

Our first 'spotlight on . . .' volunteer is Joanna Howard. Joanna works as an administrator for Kent Police and plays a vital role is helping us collate feedback from victims of crime.

Officers have been giving out satisfaction cards to victims since October 2008. The card allows members of the public to provide feedback on the service they have received from Kent Police.

Joanna helps to collate this information so we can use it to improve the service we provide and give recognition to our staff when they do a great job.

Joanna says: 'I have been a volunteer for Kent Police for one and a half years now and I really enjoy it. Friends in the Royal British Legion suggested it to me and joining was so easy. Within a month I had started in my post, all I had to do was pass the police’s security checks and complete two short training tests to allow me to access a force computer.'

'The role seemed very interesting, being able to find out what victims had said about the service they had received and then knowing that, by passing on the information to officers, I would be helping them to continue doing the job they do so well.'

'I work 10 hours a week at the moment and use that time to input the data on the satisfaction cards onto a big database. I have to tally up the victim’s card to their police report, so use a system called Genesis where a log of each case is kept, so any compliment letters and feedback can be stored together in case it’s needed again, for example for use in court. My hours are really flexible and although I work 10 hours and tend to stick to specific days I can easily change them if I have plans elsewhere.'

'Being a volunteer, I don’t always have a dedicated desk so often work in different offices which lets me experience other departments within the force.'

'Before I became a volunteer here I volunteered for Kent County Council and also had a paid job in their Trading Standards department. When I left the role I studied at sixth form for a year and went on to college to study administration and office skills. Kent Police took my qualifications and interests into account when they posted me to this role which was really good.'

'I like everything about my volunteer work, the people I work with are great, very polite and will do anything to help me, especially as I am a wheelchair user. I enjoy everyday and manage to fit the role around my home life easily. I still help run my Brownie pack in Snodland, play archery which is one of my hobbies and enjoy time with my friends and family.'