Special Constabulary

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About Special Constables

WHO ARE SPECIALS?
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
SKILLS REQUIRED?

How to Become a Special Constable

The Recruitment Process
Eligibility and Interview
Assessment Centre

Meet our Specials A 'Day in the Life'

Take a look at the 'day in the life' of a typical Special Constable.

See the results Statistics

Our Specials are really making a difference this month.

Eligibility Criteria

VETTING AND WHY WE NEED IT
REJECTION OFFENCES
EMPLOYMENT EXCLUSIONS
RESIDENCY
FINANCIAL

FAQs

Do you want to become a Special Constable?

If you can give us just four hours a week, you'll enjoy
real excitement, variety and a new challenge!

FIND OUT MORE Meet our Specials

Specials in action Video profiles

Specials in action

Special constable profile:

BECOMING A SPECIAL CONSTABLE

Special Constable Application process

The Recruitment Process:

1. Online Written Application Form

2. Assessment Centre

3. Vetting and Medical Checks

4. Commence your training

How special constables Are helping

Our Specials are really making a difference this month.
Here are the stats for September 2015…

FIND OUT MORE

9,970

the number of duty hours carried out by Specials

20.4

the average number of hours performed by Specials

Ready to start your journey?Simply fill in your details below if you are interested in volunteering as a Special Constable...

Thank you for your enquiry. Please check your email for the next steps in becoming a Northants special constable.

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What is a Special Constable?

Special Constables are part-time, voluntary police officers with all the same powers as fulltime regular police officers. They come from all walks of life and join us for a variety of reasons. Becoming a Special Constable really is one of the most exciting and rewarding voluntary opportunities available!

Special Constabularies have been around for hundreds of years; today they are a vital part of all Police Forces across the country, supporting and enhancing the work of regular police officers.

At Northamptonshire Police, we recognise the immense value that Special Constables add! We want people to come and join us and help make a difference, and make our county a safer place!

Anybody can apply to become a Special Constable and the role is so dynamic and diverse, there’s something in it for everyone!

So why not Register your interest today or call 01604 439155 to chat to one of our friendly recruitment team to find out more!

Specials are a vital part of our organisation. I’ve been a Police Officer for 13 years and seen the difference Special Constables can make. They are giving up their time to come and support us and help make the county a safer place. The diversity of special constables also bring lots of different life experiences to consider policing in a different way"

Inspector. Lara Alexander-Lloyd

Find out more about becoming a Special Constable with Northamptonshire Police

The Journey DOWNLOAD

LATEST TWEETS:

Scroll through our latest Specials posts.

Click the 'MORE LIVE UPDATES' button below to view more tweets on our twitter page

MORE LIVE UPDATES

Ready to start your journey?Simply fill in your details below if you are interested in volunteering as a Special Constable...

Thank you for your enquiry. Please check your email for the next steps in becoming a Northants special constable.

REQUEST A CALLBACK

If you would like to ask us a question, sign up here to receive a callback from our Recruitment Team

Thank you for your callback request. We will contact you on the day specified.

SPECIAL CONSTABLES COME FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE AND JOIN UP FOR MANY REASONS…

TOP BENEFITS

at Northants Police we have two core types of Special:

Local Response Special Constable
Safer Community Team Special

Local Response Special Constable

The Local Response Special Constable is the role you might typically associate with the ‘traditional’ Special Constable role. Response officers are the means through which the Force intervenes in situations that are in progress; are about to happen; or have just happened. They provide a visible presence which acts as both reassurance and deterrent and they are the response most likely to be deployed to a life-threatening situation. Incidents of this nature require the attendance of an officer in the shortest time period possible.

Of the roles, this is the more ‘fast-paced’ role.

As a Local Response Special, duties can be wide-ranging. You will be based from a local station and will work with the Local Response Team to respond to incidents of both emergency and non-emergency nature

You will be dealing with a variety of crimes and duties will predominantly involve:

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Respond to and intervene in all emergency calls
Provide the initial deployment to missing persons
Gathering and submitting information that has the potential to support law enforcement objectives
Arrest, detain or report individuals
Presentative patrol
Conduct inquiries
Conduct searches of individuals and their personal property
Carry out systematic searches of vehicles, premises and open areas
Manage conflict
Process prisoners
Provide initial support to victims, witnesses and assess their need for further support

You will typically be crewed with a regular constable or an experienced Special Constable when out on duty.

As a local Response Special Constable, you are likely to deal with difficult and potentially volatile situations. You will need to be able to remain calm and professional under pressure and able to defuse conflict and be prepared to step forward and take control when required.

You will need to be a strong communicator, courteous, polite and considerate; showing empathy and compassion, dealing with people as individuals and addresses their specific needs and concerns.

Safer Community Team Special

The Safer Community Team Special role is a more community-focused policing role.

As a Safer Community Team Special, you will be the visible presence of policing in an area, working with the local Safer Community Team; which includes other Specials, regular officers and PCSOs.

Safer Community Teams look to build and maintain community relations through consultation and communication with all community groups and provide a highly visible service that is responsive to their needs.

They develop effective working relationships with key community members and partner agencies to identify issues and concerns and assist in formulating and implementing appropriate interventions, as well as attend Community and Partnership meetings to discuss community issues and problem solving.

A safer Community Team Special, duties will predominantly include:

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Providing a targeted high visibility presence to reassure the public and to seek to build the confidence of all sections of the community
Carrying out patrol activities
Gathering and using intelligence to support the achievement of community safety and crime reduction objectives
Submit logs
Participating in police and agency-led operations to support the delivery of objectives, taking into account, and responding to, the impact on the community