Who volunteers for the special constabulary?

Police volunteers in the Netherlands: a study on policy and practice

“…As Table 2 shows, an overwhelming majority of our respondents in the survey and in the interviews are male, middle-class, white and aged 40 or over. This corresponds with the demography of the Dutch police in general, and comparable figures can be found in Britain (Hieke 2018a). Volunteers in a support function, however, are more often female than male.…”

Leadership, Volunteering and the Special Constabulary

“…Despite post 1964 recognition of specials as a valued source of additional manpower their numbers dwindled, and somewhat negative views of the special constable emerged hampering recruitment drives and demotivating serving specials (Gill and Mawby, 1990). Government drives to stimulate awareness and increase the numbers of special constables took shape during the 1970s (Bullock and Leeney, 2016), and post equal opportunities legislation of the same decade, the 1980s was a turning point in increased numbers of women volunteering as specials (Hieke, 2018).…”

“…The role of the special constable within the wider police workforce has grown in significance since 2008 and the onset of austerity as police officer numbers decline and specials have been targeted as a growth area (Bullock and Leeney, 2016). Yet despite playing a key role in supporting neighbourhood policing and wider police force priorities (Bullock and Millie, 2018); becoming embedded in specialist areas that include roads policing, rural crime, public order, professional standards and cyber-crime (NPCC, 2018); and utilised by the National Crime Agency (Crime and Courts Act, 2013), the numbers of specials have been in a steady decline (Hieke, 2018). Concerted efforts to increase the recruitment of special constables are being hampered by consistent attrition with figures for service strength reducing from 20,343 in 2012 to 13,503 in 2017(Home Office, 2018.…”

“…Concerted efforts to increase the recruitment of special constables are being hampered by consistent attrition with figures for service strength reducing from 20,343 in 2012 to 13,503 in 2017(Home Office, 2018. The notable increase between 2010-2012 has been attributed to a unique set of inter-related politico-economic circumstances; a government freeze on recruitment to the police service; reduced budgets for police forces; and a resulting decline in police officer numbers (Hieke, 2018).…”