Police Community Support Officer – Central and South County – January 2022

£21,585 – £22,707

14%

Full Time

Permanent

1

Police Community Support Officers are an important part of the policing family and key members of our community policing teams. Often called the eyes and ears of the police, PCSOs work out in the community, tackling local issues, providing a visible and reassuring uniformed presence on the streets and doing what they can to keep people safe.

It is a varied role with lots of community engagement. We are looking for people who are keen to help others and are good at building relationships. Great communication skills are a must. You will deal with a lot of individuals, groups and organisations and will need empathy, resilience and be good at problem solving.

You will tackle a host of issues to help resolve community challenges and provide advice to victims of crime and vulnerable members of the community. 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.

To be a PCSO you need to be calm, confident, positive, and inquisitive you will as well as being physically able to meet the requirements of the role. This is due to the high visibility foot patrols carried out.

We welcome everyone from our diverse communities across Wiltshire and Swindon. We strive to reflect our growing skilled, diverse communities in our Staff and Officers and particularly encourage people from ethnic minorities to apply to become Police Community Support Officers as we are underrepresented in our workforce. You will be supported through the application process by our Positive Action Team, please e-mail the team for further information [email protected]

Apprenticeship Scheme And Qualifications

The College of Policing, in partnership with higher education providers, has developed a full national curriculum to support PCSO learning, accredited to a Level 4 Higher Education Certificate in Community Policing Practice. The new PCSO apprenticeship will be a mix of classroom learning, observation, 1:1 tutorship and practical experience.

We are delighted to be working in partnership with the University of South Wales to co-deliver specialist PCSO training. Wiltshire Police is one of five police forces in the South West and Wales to partner with the University. All training takes place in Wiltshire and involves in class tests, assignments, evidence-based projects, and reflection to test knowledge and understanding.

You will need Level 2 in Maths and English (GCSE graded 9-4/A*-C or equivalent) before you start the training as well as a Level 3 qualification. If you do not have a Level 3 Qualification, your application will be assessed in other ways. Go to the Gov.UK website to find out what the different entry level qualifications mean.

This role will be located in the Central and South County area of Wiltshire including, Salisbury, Amesbury, Devizes, Warminster and Trowbridge.

PCSOs work to a shift pattern – days, evenings, and weekends. In the 10-week pattern they will work 6 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, so 5 full weekends and an additional Saturday. Your shifts will be allocated between the hours of 0700hrs start time to a 2200hrs finish time.

Salary: £21,585 per annum rising to £22,707 in two annual increments, plus further payments for working unsocial or irregular hours, totalling a standard salary of £27,246.37

During your initial training period the majority of your timetable will be office hours and the occasional observation shifts. Please note that you will not be able to take any holiday during this time, other than mandated by the timetable.

Successful applicants will be subject to stringent vetting procedures which also include reference checks, biometrics and substance misuse testing as well as a medical assessment. You will also be required to complete a fitness test which is a bleep test, up to level of 5.4.

Are you eligible?

Please ensure that you read the eligibility criteria found under ‘More Information’ section, on the PCSO careers section of our website.

You must have a full driving licence at the time of appointment (this can be at any time from four months after applying). Please note that if you are successful, your application will be considered for any future course dates.

We recommend that you read and use the STAR guidance to complete your application as it is taken into consideration when shortlisting your application.