PCSOs: Use them or lose them?

While some called for an increase in their numbers and use, others advocated for abolishing the role altogether. This reflects the ongoing debate about the role and value of PCSOs since their introduction in 2002 – and resurfaced in the 2023 Policing Productivity Review which highlighted workforce and resourcing flexibility opportunities regarding PCSOs.

At their best, PCSOs are a highly visible, cost-effective presence in communities, providing reassurance around personal safety, and bridging the gap between the police and the public. Questions remain, however, and are compounded by inconsistencies:

• The Police Reform Act 2002 only applies to England and Wales, meaning significant parts of the UK do not use PCSOs.
• The Policing and Crime Act 2017 enabled chief constables to grant PCSOs additional powers, leading to differences across forces.
• Forces have given different levels of priority to PCSOs. In the two-year plan entitled ‘A New Met for London’, the Commissioner pledged to increase PCSO numbers, whereas elsewhere budgetary pressures have seen numbers reduce significantly or disappear entirely. Home Office data from earlier this year shows that the number of PCSOs has dropped by over 9,000 since 2020.

The new government has pledged an additional 13,000 neighbourhood resources, including PCSOs, as part of its aim to achieve greater consistency across policing – while also highlighting the importance of neighbourhood policing. The future of the PCSO role is a very live question. With growing financial pressures and mounting resource costs in the vast majority of forces, difficult decisions will have to be made around the size and configuration of the workforce. Each role must provide value for money in its own right, without duplication across domains. PCSOs are not immune to this, and require a clear and distinct remit.

So, how should policing make best use of PCSOs?

Policing is looking to improve public trust. PCSOs could provide visible, consistent, and approachable reassurance at the heart of communities. But for this to happen, policing – both nationally and locally – needs to be clear on their purpose, the right operating environment, and how best to recruit and retain this resource.

When considering purpose, policing needs to focus on:

• Driving force neighbourhood models through national policing strategies. Neighbourhoods are at the heart of policing. PCSOs can be a valuable resource if focused on providing reassurance to communities and feeding first line local intelligence into the force.
• Deploying PCSOs in a more effective way. Forces need to clarify the PCSO role and how it works with regular officers – they should be different but complementary. Making PCSOs central to local operational and strategic planning would improve both their visibility and motivation, encouraging greater collective use by those leading neighbourhood policing. To drive visibility and accessibility, PCSOs need to be empowered to become more proactive and data-led; developing ‘on the ground’ knowledge to focus activity and submit intelligence.
• Understanding what makes a good PCSO. Indiscriminate recruitment against a set target is not the answer and risks creating more problems. The Police Uplift Programme on targeting and integrating new resources offered lessons on understanding the strengths PCSOs bring and how these are best used. These strengths include harnessing previous experience and building on strong public engagement, observational skills, local knowledge, and data analysis for targeted activity.

Once the purpose is clear, policing needs to identify the right operating environment for PCSOs, particularly around culture and powers:

• What culture is needed? PCSOs need to be valued and recognised internally and externally. Internal value needs to be ‘top down’ with force leadership emphasising the PCSO role, as well as ‘bottom-up’ – removing divisions by focusing on how PCSOs contribute to common goals. Within this, PCSOs need to be supported by force technology, data, and systems. Externally, forces need to highlight the valuable work to local communities and the wider public.
• What legal powers do PCSOs need? Policing can revisit the opportunity afforded by the Policing and Crime Act 2017 to harmonise their powers to ensure consistency – potentially enabling them to deal with a broader range of issues, including developing more targeted or specialist teams in neighbourhoods.

Once the purpose and operating environment are clear, the question becomes one of workforce planning, specifically how to recruit and retain PCSOs. Key considerations include:

• Recruiting for strength. To recruit for strength, forces need to know the qualities and behaviours of the best PCSOs and specifically recruit those who innately possess those characteristics. This requires an evidence-based profile that explicitly highlights the common strengths of ‘stand-out’ PCSOs who thrive in the role. Once the strengths profile is known, it is easier to signpost the role to those for whom it would be a good fit.
• Creating defined career pathways. PCSO career progress is variable across forces. Typically, a lack of pathways limits the attractiveness of a role, both for recruitment and retention – this could be particularly true for younger recruits, who may have moved away from long-term employment preferences. Areas to explore include:
  • Developing pathways within the PCSO role – for example, some forces have introduced PCSO ‘team leader’ roles.
  • Clearer routes into other areas of the force – identifying ‘kindred roles’ aligned to PCSO capabilities to make transitions smoother (e.g. intelligence, communication, and engagement).
  • Fast-tracking PCSO to PC transition – reducing recruitment costs and realising the value of investments made in people already.
  • A broader use of PCSOs in postings outside of neighbourhoods (such as safer transport roles) – supporting professional development and individual fulfilment.
• Rethinking training. Adaptions to training would complement strengths-based recruitment, focusing on necessary knowledge and skills, and rethinking the standard characteristics scouted for in recruitment. This would be supported by forces’ greater awareness of its people’s relevant external experience that could be effectively employed, promoting the recognition of diverse backgrounds and boosting motivation.

PCSOs have the potential to enhance neighbourhood policing and bring significant value to the wider policing landscape – in a cost-effective way. With a clear purpose and value (and steps to recruit and retain the right people), this crucial resource can create trust with citizens and keep communities safer and more resilient – even as cost pressures build.

This article was first published in Police Professional