Police Community Support Officers (PCSO)
As a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) you’ll work closely with communities and businesses to promote community safety. You will also identify and support vulnerable people through local engagement and working with partner agencies.
You'll be responsible for patrolling a specific neighbourhood, supporting the community by;
- giving reassurance
- using your powers to deal with antisocial behaviour, alcohol and licensing offences and traffic management
- working with them on longer term projects to tackle local problems.
Working closely with regular officers, special constables and partner agencies you’ll actively seek information and intelligence around criminal activity, disorderly or anti-social behaviour.
Your 37 hour working week will include variable shifts that could span any time between 7am and 11pm, any day of the week.
Salary £21,639 rising to £24,537 (after successfully completing a 12 month probationary period)
About you
As a police community support officer you will be passionate about helping communities. You’ll have excellent communication and interpersonal skills when supporting members of the public. You will also be good at problem solving with the ability to develop an innovative approach to solving problems.
Please note: when appointed, where you're posted within the county will depend on our operational requirements.
Specialist roles
There can also on occasions, be opportunities within specialist roles which may be of interest to you. Specialist opportunities can sometimes coincide with your initial posting if successful, or be an option for you to move to later in your PCSO career. There is a requirement to successfully complete a probationary period irrelevant of the role you commence in.
As a Youth Engagement Officer you’ll support children and young people both inside and outside schools; to build trust, confidence and building positive relationships.
You’ll be responsible for identifying vulnerability and risk amongst children and young people through intelligence gathering, information sharing, positive relationship building and multi-agency working.
View role requirement
You’ll support vulnerable adults in the community particularly those with mental health conditions, providing timely and effective interventions.
Working alongside partner agencies, you’ll help to provide a co-ordinated approach so vulnerable adults receive the best and most appropriate level of service from the appropriate agency.
View role requirement
You’ll provide support to victims and witnesses of domestic abuse by co-ordinating safeguarding plans designed to reduce the risk of further abuse and to protect children living with domestic abuse at home.
You will work with partner agencies to co-ordinate the ‘One Stop Shop’ programme which is a drop in centre for victims.
View role requirement
Carry out enquiries to locate missing children and develop tactical solutions with partner agencies, to make sure missing children are managed in order to maximise their wellbeing/safety.
Provide training to residential homes and fostering agencies around police protocols, initial enquiries and developing themes to help prevent reoccurring absences.
View role requirement
As a Crime Prevention PCSO, you’ll be uniformed and visible, engaging with your community and developing strategies with our partners to support: repeat callers, repeat locations and repeat victims, through the development of strong multi-agency working relationships and information sharing.
You’ll be key developing and driving bespoke crime prevention measures that can be used by our internal community safety units for identification, intervention, sign posting, prevention and enforcement. The main focus of the role will be on crime prevention specifically, but not exclusively for the most vulnerable and will involve providing education around high harm crime via schools, colleges and youth groups.
View role requirement
Am I eligible to apply?
- I'm an EEA or Swiss National*
- I've lived in the UK continuously for the last 3 years**
- I'm at 18 years old
- I hold a full UK manual driving licence (with 6 points or less on it)
- I don't have any tattoos or piercings which cause offence, are excessive or deemed unprofessional
- I'm not registered bankrupt or subject to CCJs or IVAs (IVAs will be considered on a case by case basis)
- Any previous criminal convictions or cautions (including those spent), fixed penalty notices, traffic offences or any involvement with the police must be declared and they may affect your application.
*Commonwealth citizens and foreign nationals can also apply if you have leave to enter or remain in the UK indefinitely and you're free of restrictions.
**Not applicable if you've been serving abroad with the military.
No formal qualifications are required.
However, applicants will need to pass all elements of the recruitment and selection process to a level we're satisfied with.
PCSOs may encounter stressful situations, trauma, physical confrontation and work long hours on a variable shift pattern, covering 7am to 11pm.
They need to be resilient enough to cope with the demands and pressures of the role so applicants should be in good health mentally and physically.
You will undergo a medical examination to ensure you meet the health standards required.
Take a look at the medical standards for more information about some of the conditions that can exclude you and those that are acceptable.
Fitness test
You will need to complete an endurance fitness test by running a 15m track in time with bleeps which get increasingly faster.
We are looking for no more than the minimum standard to enable you to work effectively as a PCSO.
You'll be given help to improve your fitness and if you prepare yourself properly, there is no reason for you to fail.
Training
As a new PCSO you'll join at entry level and will be comprehensively supported during your training and development in the first year.
This will include the completion of a development portfolio.
The first part of your training involves an 8 week course at Kent Police College in Maidstone, followed by local training at the police station where you'll be based.
Before you go out on patrol on your own you'll spend some time with officers who'll also support you, offering advice and guidance during the transition between the classroom and the workplace.
Apply now
The recruitment of PCSOs is currently closed, but please register your interest with us and you will be invited to apply once a vacancy becomes available.