I have little doubt that he would have attended the scene with alacrity, had someone been accused of tweeting something mean.
[deleted]
The PCSO handled this on the wrong way. But unfortunately a PCSO does not have the powers required to ensure that situation is resolved.
This is another problem of cutting corners, Police staff driving around in marked up Police cars when they are not police.
Also **ban single crewing. It is dangerous.**
Considering he’s a PCSO and not an officer, they don’t have the training, equipment to deal with it.
“Yeah but then I have to deal with it”.
Even if he thought that, it’s unbelievable that he actually responded out loud with it. Just openly doesn’t give a fuck. No wonder people lack confidence in the authorities.
So despite the outrage bait which I’m sure the person videoing gleefully rushed to upload to the internet for brownie points, the PCSO is actually correct. Maybe he didn’t use the exact best words to explain but the person interrogating him sounds like a tosser and know-all.
So the blokes a PCSO, which means that he wears a uniform that resembles a police officer’s, but differs in a number of ways. He has extremely limited powers to detain people, and that’s about it. He can’t make arrests (Outside of the so called “citizens arrest”), isn’t trained in investigation, and likely isn’t as skilled in fighting/restraining people.
HOWEVER, he still wears a uniform that commands a degree of respect/fear from criminals, and is driving a marked police car. He is more than capable of “Flying the flag” to make people leg it from an area and stop fighting, and can at least act as a professional witness of what he does see.
This is an absolutely appalling response, but unfortunately is one I would expect from at least half of the PCSO’s that I have personally worked with. Whilst some PCSO’s will get stuck in and deal with things where they can, plenty seem to embrace the fact that they don’t have many powers as an excuse to avoid all forms of actual police work.
>”Yeah but then I have to deal with it”.
Try wording it a little differently and you’d have gotten away with it.
What is a PCSO? What is their job? Why do they get same car n uniform as regular officer?
Having worked with PCSOs I can say that the majority of them were the exact opposite of this guy.
At the very least they’d have approached the scene to at least assess what’s going on, which is exactly what I’d have been expected to do as well (only fools rush in).
After undertaking a dynamic risk assessment you then call for assistance and then either intervene or observe from a safe distance until backup arrives.
A lot of PCSOs, particularly the younger males were usually happy to intervene but you have to remember they don’t have any form of safety equipment beyond body armour.
You did unfortunately get a few who took the “observe and report” part literally all of the time.
For me, if a private citizen was informed that someone was being mugged and needed help, I’d go see what I could do to help out even if I have no legal powers or authority to arrest anyone. I’d expect a PCSO to at least go to the scene and request backup. If he was determined not to attend for whatever reason, he could have been diplomatic and advised he’d called for proper police presence and was waiting for that backup.
11 comments
I have little doubt that he would have attended the scene with alacrity, had someone been accused of tweeting something mean.
[deleted]
The PCSO handled this on the wrong way. But unfortunately a PCSO does not have the powers required to ensure that situation is resolved.
This is another problem of cutting corners, Police staff driving around in marked up Police cars when they are not police.
Also **ban single crewing. It is dangerous.**
Considering he’s a PCSO and not an officer, they don’t have the training, equipment to deal with it.
“Yeah but then I have to deal with it”.
Even if he thought that, it’s unbelievable that he actually responded out loud with it. Just openly doesn’t give a fuck. No wonder people lack confidence in the authorities.
So despite the outrage bait which I’m sure the person videoing gleefully rushed to upload to the internet for brownie points, the PCSO is actually correct. Maybe he didn’t use the exact best words to explain but the person interrogating him sounds like a tosser and know-all.
So the blokes a PCSO, which means that he wears a uniform that resembles a police officer’s, but differs in a number of ways. He has extremely limited powers to detain people, and that’s about it. He can’t make arrests (Outside of the so called “citizens arrest”), isn’t trained in investigation, and likely isn’t as skilled in fighting/restraining people.
HOWEVER, he still wears a uniform that commands a degree of respect/fear from criminals, and is driving a marked police car. He is more than capable of “Flying the flag” to make people leg it from an area and stop fighting, and can at least act as a professional witness of what he does see.
This is an absolutely appalling response, but unfortunately is one I would expect from at least half of the PCSO’s that I have personally worked with. Whilst some PCSO’s will get stuck in and deal with things where they can, plenty seem to embrace the fact that they don’t have many powers as an excuse to avoid all forms of actual police work.
>”Yeah but then I have to deal with it”.
Try wording it a little differently and you’d have gotten away with it.
What is a PCSO? What is their job? Why do they get same car n uniform as regular officer?
Having worked with PCSOs I can say that the majority of them were the exact opposite of this guy.
At the very least they’d have approached the scene to at least assess what’s going on, which is exactly what I’d have been expected to do as well (only fools rush in).
After undertaking a dynamic risk assessment you then call for assistance and then either intervene or observe from a safe distance until backup arrives.
A lot of PCSOs, particularly the younger males were usually happy to intervene but you have to remember they don’t have any form of safety equipment beyond body armour.
You did unfortunately get a few who took the “observe and report” part literally all of the time.
For me, if a private citizen was informed that someone was being mugged and needed help, I’d go see what I could do to help out even if I have no legal powers or authority to arrest anyone. I’d expect a PCSO to at least go to the scene and request backup. If he was determined not to attend for whatever reason, he could have been diplomatic and advised he’d called for proper police presence and was waiting for that backup.