Celebrating our volunteers

Our volunteers play a vital role in helping to keep Essex safe – giving their time, skills and passion to support communities across our county every single day.

And Volunteers’ Week gives us the chance to recognise and celebrate their huge contribution and to shine a spotlight on the difference they make.

This week, as in every other, our volunteers will be breaking down barriers, building trust with our diverse communities and neighbourhoods and supporting our police officers and staff to prevent and solve crime.

Assistant Chief Constable Glen Pavelin, our lead for Local Policing and the Special Constabulary, says:

“We are incredibly lucky to have hundreds of dedicated individuals volunteering in a wide range of roles across our force, as well as thousands more offering their time through partner organisations, all committed to supporting others and keeping people safe.
“No matter what your role, the skills and experience you bring as volunteers make a crucial contribution to how we protect and serve communities across Essex.
“What stands out most is that you give your time so generously alongside your own commitments.
“I want to extend my sincere thanks to each of you for being part of the Essex policing family. Thank you for your dedication, your enthusiasm, the time you give to your communities, and for everything you do to make Essex a safer place.
“And I would also like to thank your families and loved ones, whose support makes it possible for you to give up your time to help others.”

Superintendent Darren Deex, our Prevention, Partnerships and Engagement Lead, adds:

“Our dedicated volunteers give countless hours to support our officers and help keep Essex a safe place to live, work and visit.
“We greatly value the broad range of skills, experience and insight you bring, and the positive impact you make every day.
“You are an essential part of our policing family, strengthening the connection between Essex Police and our communities, and I would like to thank you all for your important 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 hundreds of volunteers, from Active Citizens and Police Support Volunteers to Specials and Volunteer Police Cadets (VPCs) & their leaders. 

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

Independent Advisory Groups comprise around 200 volunteers who represent their local communities and act as critical friends of Essex Police. We have IAGs in all of our policing districts, plus Custody, Professional Standards and Learning & Development. Their chairs sit on the force’s Strategic IAG.

District IAGs meet regularly with senior officers locally to discuss community tensions and local crime statistics, sitting on various scrutiny panels to provide feedback on policing matters.

Our Specials are an integral part of all our local and neighbourhood policing teams with others volunteering their time in specialist areas. During an average month, our Specials contribute 5,576 hours to protect people and keep them safe from harm.

In the past year, they have volunteered 66,922 hours of their own time to help people, keep you safe and catch criminals. That’s 183 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 eight Volunteer Police Cadet Units – their leaders are all volunteers, too. And we're always looking for more of them to help out!

Our 90 Cadets support our neighbourhood policing teams in a variety of ways, while also developing skills, confidence and pride in their communities.

And our Police Support Volunteers bring new skills and experience to specialist areas, including our digital and forensic teams, fraud prevention team, Fingerprint Bureau and Domestic Abuse Investigation Teams (DAITs). You may also have seen them helping out in the Essex Police Museum.

Then there are the volunteers in our wider Essex policing family. Most people have heard of Neighbourhood 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 Visitors and dog welfare volunteers.

And there are more than 1,200 Community Speed Watch volunteers supporting 39 groups across Essex, helping to keep our roads safe for the past 20 years.

Plus, everyone who volunteers for our specialised Watch schemes, from Allotment Watch, Business Watch and Farm & Rural 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.

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

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

Special Constables, are volunteer police officers. They have the same police powers, uniforms and equipment as regular police officers. But Special Constables volunteer their time to help people and communities across Essex.

Want to know more? Take a look at our Special Constabulary page.