Celebrating our volunteers’ valuable contribution to policing our communities

We celebrate our volunteers’ valuable contribution to making Essex a safer place to live, work and visit every day but Volunteers’ Week gives us the opportunity to tell the wider world about their amazing work.

This week, as every week, they will be helping us to break down barriers & engage with our diverse communities and prevent & solve crimes.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Mariner, our lead for Local Policing and the Special Constabulary, says:

“We are extremely fortunate to have hundreds of fantastic people volunteering in a wide variety of roles across our force, with thousands more volunteering with partner organisations also dedicated to helping people and keeping them safe.
“Whatever your role, the additional skills and experiences you, our remarkable volunteers, bring to Essex Police play a vital part in protecting and serving our county.
“What is most impressive is that you do all of this in your spare time.
“I want to say a huge thank you to you all for being a part of the Essex policing family. Thank you for your commitment and passion, thank you for the huge amount of time you devote to your communities and thank you for what you do to make Essex a safer place.
“And, of course, a particular thank you to your families and loved ones who enable you to donate your valuable time to helping others.”

Superintendent Naomi Edwards, our Citizens in Policing Commander, adds:

“Our amazing volunteers give up many hours of their time to support our officers in helping to make Essex a safer place to live, work and visit.
“We are grateful for the varied skills, experience and knowledge you bring with you and for the difference you make every day.
“You are a vital part of our policing family, providing an essential link between Essex Police and our communities and I want to thank you all for your valuable contribution.”

Our Citizens In Policing all want to make a difference and they are able do so in a wide variety of roles. We enjoy the support of around 1,200 volunteers, from Active Citizens and Police Support Volunteers to Specials and Volunteer Police Cadets (VPCs) & their leaders.

Active Citizens work with our community policing teams, providing people with crime prevention advice and information to make them fraud & scam aware and helping to reduce the fear of crime.

While our Police Support Volunteers bring new skills and experience to specialist areas, including our digital and forensic teams, fraud prevention team, Witness Care team, Fingerprint Bureau and Casualty Reduction team. You may also have seen them helping out in the Essex Police Museum.

And, of course, our Special Constables are an integral part of all our local and community policing teams with others volunteering their time in specialist areas. During an average month, our Specials contribute 9,920 hours to protect people and keep them safe from harm.

 

In the past year, they have volunteered more than 119,000 hours of their own time to help people, keep you safe and catch criminals. That’s 326 hours every single day. So, you can see, their support of our operational policing activity is immense.

And we have opportunities for young people, too. If you are aged between 13 and 18 you can join one of our 13 Volunteer Police Cadet Units – their leaders are all volunteers, too. We now have 220 cadets who support our community policing teams in a variety of ways, while also developing skills, confidence and pride in their communities.

Then there are the volunteers in our wider Essex policing family. Most people have heard of Neighbourhood Watch and Community Speed Watch but we are also supported in our work by Essex Search and Rescue volunteers and Street Pastors, as well as restorative justice and mediation volunteers, independent custody volunteers and dog welfare volunteers.

And not forgetting hundreds of staff from partner organisations in the Community Safety Accreditation scheme who provide an additional uniformed presence and have been accredited with limited, targeted powers to deal with disorder in our communities.

Plus everyone who volunteers for our specialised Watch schemes, from Allotment watch and Heritage watch to Plane watch and the Essex Horse Rider Volunteer Scheme who are our eyes and ears in their local areas, reporting any suspicious or unusual activity.

We thank you all for helping to make Essex a safer place to be!

Could you volunteer to help your community?

If you want to help people, keep them safe and help us to catch criminals, we have various opportunities for you. Just click on the links to find out more and how to apply:

• Active Citizens and Police Support Volunteers
• Special Constables
• Volunteer Police Cadets
• Essex Watch schemes
• Restorative justice & mediation volunteers, independent custody volunteers and dog welfare volunteers