Police Support Volunteers

Police Support Volunteers (PSVs) are people from various walks of life who dedicate some of their spare time to help Suffolk Police make Suffolk a safer place.

They are valued members of the team and have a unique role to play in making the organisation’s vision a reality: ‘Taking Pride in Keeping Suffolk Safe’, while ensuring our communities value and trust what we do.

 

Could I become a Police Support Volunteer?

Suffolk Police’s Police Support Volunteer Scheme aims to integrate volunteers from a variety of backgrounds with various skills and abilities in order to enhance, compliment and support the work of all officers and police staff.

Police Support Volunteers:

• Must be aged 16 years or over (For some roles/tasks volunteers must be aged 18 years or over)
• There is no upper age limit
• Can work up to a maximum of 20 hours per week. Hours are mutually agreed locally
• May see or receive confidential and sensitive information. Therefore, most roles will require applicants to be subject to vetting checks
• Are not required to wear uniform
• Will be covered by public liability insurance wherever they undertake their volunteering duties.

 

What can Police Support Volunteers do?

Here are some of the areas where Police Support Volunteers currently work:

• Safer Neighbourhood Team Support – assisting with administration, minutes, police surgeries, street meets, forming links with local communities and assisting with surveys and other research activities
• Town centre CCTV monitoring support
• Involvement in Community Speed Watch schemes
• If any of these areas interest you or if you have other skills that you think could benefit the Police, please get in touch.

 

What do people get out of volunteering?

• Opportunities to gain or develop skills in the workplace and to work as part of a team in a professional environment
• An increased sense of belonging to a group or community
• The chance to give something back and make a positive difference to their local community
• Personal development and growth
• Meet and make new friends
• Engage and interact with people from different backgrounds
• Find out more about policing to determine whether they would be interested in joining the organisation as a permanent member of staff.

 

In addition, Suffolk Police will:

• Provide advice, guidance and support in order to help Police Support Volunteers carry out their role
• Provide role specific training where necessary
• Allow Police Support Volunteers to claim back certain travelling and out-of-pocket expenses.