Community support officers to be given the power to detain

Police community support officers should be given extended powers that would allow them to be able to detain suspects for the first time, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said yesterday.

Currently, support officers, known as PCSOs, have a range of powers, the most senior of which allows them to seize drugs and issue fines for a small number of offences.

But under proposals outlined yesterday by Ms Smith, PSCOs would, in future, be able to detain suspects until a police constable arrives, impose a fine for those caught writing graffiti and allow them to disperse troublemakers.

Related articles

• Tim Walker: Need a police officer? Well good luck

Because of legislation allowing extra discretionary powers to be handed down to PSCOs by chief constables of individual forces, some support officers already exercise more powers than colleagues in other parts of the UK.

Ms Smith, speaking at the Unison Police Staff Conference in Glasgow, said she wanted to change that, ensuring that all PCSOs across the country have the same powers. And she revealed that she intends to standardise uniforms, so that the officers are more easily recognisable to members of the public.

But the Home Secretary stressed that she was aware that PCSOs were not a replacement for police officers and said that they should not be allowed to make arrests, saying that they "must remain a power for constables alone".

It is not the first time Ms Smith has intervened to change aspects of the legislation surrounding PCSOs. Late last year, she changed the minimum age for becoming a PCSO from 16 to 18.

PCSOs, introduced in 2002 by the Home Secretary David Blunkett, have previously been criticised for their lack of powers and have been disparagingly referred to as "plastic policemen" and "Blunkett's bobbies".

They are paid, on average, £19,500 but their salaries can be as low as £14,000 in some parts of the country and as high as £24,000 in others. They are not to be confused with special constables, who are volunteers.

In September 2007, two PCSOs were heavily criticised after 10-year-old Jordan Lyon drowned in a pond in Wigan. The two officers stood on the bank and radioed for help instead of jumping in to rescue the child. They told an inquest that they were not trained to do so.

Yesterday Ms Smith rejected the criticism of PCSOs, saying she believes they "play a distinct and vital neighbourhood role providing high visibility patrol, community engagement and problem solving".

She added: "PCSOs don't damage police officers in the eye of the public. I do sense a move away from some of the denigration of the role of PCSOs that I know has gone on previously and I will continue to make the argument for the role of PCSOs."

Ms Smith's proposals are contained in the Policing Green Paper, the theme of which is an intention to improve confidence in the police force and instil confidence in staff, according to the Home Secretary.

Following her speech, Unison welcomed Ms Smith's announcements on PCSOs. The union said it had been calling for enhanced powers for the officers and for standardised uniforms, including stab vests, to make them much more recognisable to members of the public anywhere in the country. Ben Priestley, Unison national officer for police staff, said: "It was good to hear Jacqui Smith's recognition of the professionalism and expertise that police staff bring to policing in this country.

"They are often the forgotten and sometimes much-criticised arm of the law. The majority of the public say that PCSOs are doing a good or excellent job in their local area. They know that PCSOs are not substitute police officers, but having the tools and powers needed to do their job safely and efficiently will make a huge difference."

Limited powers: What PCSOs can do

* Issue fixed penalty notices for littering, breach of dog control orders and cycling on a footpath.

* Require name and address where they have reason to believe a person has committed a road traffic or antisocial behaviour offence or is inpossession of illegal drugs.

* Confiscate alcohol from persons in designated places and from under-18s.

* Seize tobacco from under-16s.

* Seize drugs.

* Enter and search premises to save life or prevent serious damage to property.

* Seize vehicles used to cause alarm. Remove abandoned vehicles.

* Stop bicycles.

* Control and divert traffic.

* Stop vehicles and carry out road checks.

* Place traffic signs.

* Enforce cordoned areas under the Terrorism Act 2000.

* Photograph people away from a police station.

* Stop and search in an authorised area under the Terrorism Act 2000.