uniform

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uniform

by localpcso @ 2007-11-18 – 23:14:04

I have read recently on a pcso forum that certain forces are planning to change there uniform to combats and t-shirt.

PC's = black t-shirt, PCSO's = Light blue t-shirt

Now I have never wanted to be a PC, but I do think that sometimes the second glance that it takes your local scumbag to check to see if I am a PCSO or PC, creates enough time for me to react to the situation.

I think a completely different uniform will put PCSO's more at risk.
I know plenty of crapbags who will see the uniform and front up to us straight away, as there is no doubt who we are.

I am not wanting to con the public, I just want to get home to my family in one piece.
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13 Comments to uniform

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- cara robbie (Visitor)
- 2007-11-20 @ 09:13:28
pcso's are a complete waste of time. they have no repsect from the kids and no respect from the adults. they are glorified traffic wardens. why would a 40, 50 + adult be lectured by a teenager. put the money into proper policing not plastic plods
- - localpcso (Visitor)
  - 2007-11-20 @ 09:38:13
  Unfortunately its that type of attitude that gives the local toerags the upper hand. Too many people believe what they read in the papers, to the extent that the think every cso is 16 years old. I myself am ex infantry, and as such I have far more experience than those that choose to comment on our role. I appreciate everyone is entitled to an opinion but you have to realise that even if more plods were employed you would not see the benefit on the streets as they too would be drawn into the spiral of deskbound paperwork that the rules and regulations bring. Anyone care to make a comment based on well founded research?
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- - Mr Ball (Visitor)
  - 2008-01-01 @ 20:47:19
  Cara Robbie,
  I am deeply upset to hear that you feel this way, however, you and anybody else who believes such rubbish is simply wrong. PCSO's have proven time after time how effective they are, and how they aid all police services. Your outspoken comment regarding 40-50+ adults being lectured by a teenager worried me further, surely middle-aged adults should be behaving themselves and setting a positive example! I am only so thankful that these 'teenage police community support officers' are correcting their unacceptable behaviour.
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- - Vagas Jack (Visitor)
  - 2008-10-15 @ 18:55:36
  Say what you like I think PCSO's are great its just the media is one sided in its view we need more PCSO's like:
  
  PCSO Uthayakumar Packirisamy, London: who just a month after the July 7/7 terrorist attacks stopped a woman who had mental health problems from blowing her self up on a bus with an incendiary bomb. He was off duty alone at the time but detained her till police arrived.
  
  PCSO Will Brockett, New Mills: who on his own saved a man drowning from a freezing river during winter.
  
  PCSO Andy Hill, Essex, who saved two flood victims trapped in a car.
  
  PCSO's Mike Driscoll and Sue Broadwell, North Yorkshire: who saved an elderly man from drowning in a fast flowing River. PCSO Driscoll could not swim.
  
  PCSO’s Linda Haynes and Kim Scott, Watford: who saved an escaped psychiatric patient from downing in a canal who they had been searching for. Both officers later required medical treatment for the effects of cold.
  
  PCSO Dean Crowley, Southend: who on his own despite having no rescue equipment saved 3 young girls from drowning in the sea. He got two of the girls to the safety of a jetty. He then swam back to rescue the 3rd who was being swept out to sea. He successfully saved her and all 3 girls were treated by paramedics on the beach.
  
  PCSO Laura Parry, Neath: who on her own stopped a man committing suicide by throwing himself off a bridge. The PCSO talked him down before grabbing hold of him till help arrived.
  
  PCSO Rogers Jean-Baptiste, London: a former British Commonwealth soldier from St Lucia with two tours of duty in Iraq who after leaving the army was denied British citizenship but went on to become a PCSO and was later injured trying to detain a suspected robber.
  
  PCSO Dave Bird: Devon, a former firefighter who on his own made two heroic attempts to save two children from a burning house.
  
  PCSO Jamie Foreman, Catford: who whilst on holiday in Cyprus saved the life of a 13 month old baby girl who was choking on her own food. The PCSO used the Heimlich manoeuvre and after four attempts managed to free the food blocking the child’s airway.
  
  PCSO John Gale, Bristol: who with a Constable chased and captured a suspect who was wanted for a serious sexual assault. The officers chased him jumping into dense brambles in order to arrest the suspect. Both Officers were later formally commended for bravery.
  
  PCSO’s Lee Hopkins and Chris Dartnell London, who chased and detained 5 youths loitering suspiciously at a bus stop one of whom dropped a firearm before running away,. A search of the suspects revealed a further 3 firearms, ammunition, 5 knives and a stolen oyster pass. All 5 youths were arrested. Both Officers were formally commended for their bravery.
  
  PCSO Hannes Meiring, London: who on his own after a ½ mile foot chase detained a burglar armed with a hammer. The PCSO had initially spotted the suspect with stolen jewellery. The suspect was arrested for the offence and was later linked to other burglaries.
  
  PCSO Paul Tunnard: Leeds: who whilst off duty made a citizen’s arrest on a man armed with a stun gun. He was presented with an award for his actions.
  
  Traffic PCSO’s Carina Tunks and Abdul Hamid, London: Who detained a violent man at a bus stop who was wanted on a "failure to appear" warrant issued for theft. A number of mobile phones were found on him one of which had been stolen from a female victim just 15 minutes before the stop. The suspect had numerous convictions for theft, assault and robbery. He was arrested for both offences and the stolen phone was returned to its owner.
  
  .PCSO’s Laura Hurry, Kerry Floody and PC Neal Drew, Birmingham: Who saved the life of a 68 year old man who had suffered a cardiac arrest whilst playing football. All three played their part administrating CPR and summering an ambulance which arrived 15 minutes later.
  
  PCSO Rebecca Clarke aged 21, Whitehaven: who on foot patrol alone at night came across a burning flat. She made a call for assistance before entering the premises despite it being full of smoke. She found a disabled elderly 58 year old man in a wheel chair who she successfully evacuated out of the building. The man was taken to hospital and treated for the effects of smoke inhalation.
  
  PCSO James Harry, Portsmouth: Who helped a female Constable detain a violent man who had attacked her following a shoplifting incident.
  
  Unnamed Male and Female PCSO, Southport: Who went to the aid of a pedestrian after he tripped over on a pavement along Albert Road. In a number of pictures on www.southportforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50381927 the female PCSO is seen taking off her own coat using it as a blanket to keep the injured man warm. With her male colleague she shielded the 46 year old man from hailstone, wind and rain for 25 minutes until paramedics arrived. She is clearly shown only wearing a light short sleeve dress shirt in the picture yet shielding the man despite the cold weather.
  
  PCSO’s John Brinksman and Jane Bowring, Birmingham: Who were awarded an OCU Commander’s Commendation for helping to save the life of an elderly man who collapsed while out shopping from a heart attack. Both officers began to resuscitate the man until paramedics arrived. The man survived.
  
  PCSO Andy Dancey, Burnham on Sea: Who caught a rouge trader attempting to rip off customers by providing over priced building work. The PCSO initially spotted him dropping leaflets whilst on foot patrol. The male was arrested and cautioned
  
  PCSO’s Rachel Cotton, Ian Grant and Aaron Kattal, Wickford: who rescued a disabled woman who had spent 18 hours on her cold kitchen floor after a fall in her own home. PCSO Cotton knew the woman suffered from a number of debilitating conditions. When she passed by the house she noticed the curtains drawn. Suspicious she got her colleagues to assist before checking out the house. The lady in her late 50s would have gone unnoticed for 36 hours until her next scheduled social worker visit possibly with fatal consequences.
  
  PCSO Gerry Woods, Burnley: Who whilst on foot patrol alone discovered a possible cannabis farm. A search warrant was later attained and the premises were searched. It was discovered the occupant of the address was growing cannabis. He was arrested and 28 cannabis plants were discovered and destroyed.
  
  PCSO Salik Abdul, Sgt Colin Davies PC Andrew Phidia and PC Gareth Nash. of the Tower Hamlets Safer Neighbourhoods, London: Who late at night found a house on fire whilst on foot patrol. They summoned help before entering the smoke filled premises where they found an elderly man almost unconscious because of all the smoke. The officers managed to get him out saving his life. The man as one of the officers received treatment for the effects of smoke inhalation.
  
  PCSO David Lax, Bradford: who helped a constable arrest a drunk and disorderly man at a public event. PCSO Lax fractured a bone in his left wrist, the Constable also was injured. The arrested man was banned from the event for two years and was given a 200-hour community order. PCSO Lax was later formerly commended for his actions.
  
  PCSO Jonathan Burke, aged 22, Suffolk: who helped a man deliver his wives baby in a car.
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- James Maguire (Visitor)
- 2007-11-23 @ 23:04:19
Agree with you localpcso. You find that those who dont like us don't know what we do and can achieve nor have they bothered to research or speak to a pcso. You find they usually read 'The Sun' or the Hate mail too.

I work in a city centre which is quite a different role to a residential CSO. My knowledge of the city is better than most of the pc's and I am putting in around 30 intelligence entries a week along with about 25 stops. We hammer areas where local drinking is commonplace and on saturdays we find underage drinkers, call their parents and have them picked up while giving them a good dressing down.

Most of the chavs and the criminals DO respect me. They know what I can or cant do [like you, I find asking them to search themselves works 99% of the time] but they still comply with my orders because they know the outcome will only be worse for them in the long-term.

If CSO's are in the job for the right reasons and have a good understanding of the limitations of the role so that they can stretch it as far as they can then we can be a valuable tool in the police force and an excellent idea by the Labour Government.

The reaction to myself by the general public, the PC's and even the criminals is suprisingly positive, Ive had suprisingly little criticism for the role which just makes you realise how narrow-minded people like the above are...
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- Another PCSO (Visitor)
- 2007-11-23 @ 23:08:54
What have these comments got to do about uniform?

We are getting polo shirts next year, ours will be dark navy, PCs will get (some already have) black. It's about time we all got a standardized uniform.
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- A PC (Visitor)
- 2008-01-03 @ 17:12:49
PC & PCSO uniforms should be distinctly different. The reason is our roles are completely different and the public need to know the difference.

You are not police, you are not confrontational, you do not arrest. Public thinking you are police get upset when they see you not acting as police thus stirs up community tensions with us.

Do your job and we will do ours.
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- PCSO (Visitor)
- http://www.policecommunitysupportofficer.blogspot.com/
- 2008-01-04 @ 15:25:36
With all due respect to the PC above. We do as we’re told. We wear the uniform we are given. We go in plain clothes if we are told to.
We do our jobs just fine.

In reference to the comment earlier about older people not being able to take ‘teenage PCSOs’ seriously. In my experience most PCSOs are older than PCs. They tend to be middle aged people. The average age of the PCSO at my nick is about 30. and PC its about 25. Don’t believe everything you read in the Mial.
- - PC Bitseach (Visitor)
  - 2009-07-19 @ 23:19:50
  You should not be told to be in plain clothes as you have no plain clothes role. Your designated powers are all concerned with the PCSO uniform (and the carrying of the designation card, which explains what you can and can't do).
  
  I would suggest that, if you are being ordered out in plain clothes at any time, it is not a lawful order.
  
  The PCSO uniform SHOULD NOT look more like police and I think that those forces/services that use v similar uniforms are being extremely disingenuous to the public, and putting MOPs, colleagues and the PCSOs themselves at more risk. There are certain expectations of police, and different ones (not saying worse, but different) of PCSOs.
  
  As a MOP *and* as a police officer, I want to know roughly what I'm getting when I approach a person in any part of the uniformed police family. I'd be pissed off if I was talking to what I thought was an officer, to find out they were an "O". PCSOs exist for the benefit of the wider MOP communities, not for criminals, and it is for the wider community that things like uniform should be addressed, not to criminals/suspects.
  
  If the risk assessment is that bad where you are that you think you'll be protected by crims having to look twice at you to check you aren't "real", then your management needs to be making better choices about how to deploy you.
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- Daniel Olive (Visitor)
- 2008-01-11 @ 15:43:37
I have a lot of trust in the police, and i had a lot of trust in PCSOs, until I met one, he was rude, ignored criminal inteligence I supplied to him, and put me so on guard I forgot to tell him about evidence in a spate of local vandalisms. He failed in every respect, and if he was a police officer would have had a complaint made agisnt him, but because he was a PCSO, he was not reguired to give me a written record of my contact, and I was not told how to make a complaint. I still have a lot of respect for the police, I just share their opinion of PCSOs. I met 2 poluce officers in circumstances that actually looked a lot worse, although I was acting totally legally, and they gave me no cuase for complaint, but still they gave me, entirely un promted, a form with thier details, and hot to make a complaint. If PCSOs had to do that, they would not last 5 minutes. the PCSO I met is infamous. He is hated by all the local teenagers. He is a school PCSO, and is supposed to engage with teenagers. PCSO cars have also been sighted several times parked on double yellow lines.
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- Another PC (Visitor)
- 2008-02-03 @ 23:25:11
Sorry but PCSOs are more of a hindrance than a help. Many in the MET can't even speak English with most not being able to communicate on a radio effectively. In fact many start to dribble on the radio blocking the airwaves for police when they need it.
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- yet another pcso (Visitor)
- 2008-02-05 @ 17:24:20
Nice to see pc's talking so highly of us. On my division we (pc/pcso's) work as a TEAM. Quite righly we are not constables however we all come under the same banner 'POLICE', one big team, after all isn't that one of the core competencies we fill in on our application forms????
Oh and more to the point the new uniform looks spot on.
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- PCSO wishing to be a PC (Visitor)
- 2009-04-27 @ 08:59:20
With "POLICE" on our uniform we are instantly going to have expectations from the public. It is also a target.
Some people see police and instantly hate us, some people feel safe.
Most people I deal with thank me and say how just seeing me around makes them feel safe.
But the local "criminals" know our powers and will ridicule us because we come under the police "banner".

I enjoy working with PCs because it makes the shift totally different.
But our remit holds us back. I was "told off/warned" because I had "broken the law". I saw a vehicle speeding/driving dangerously whilst i was on foot patrol with a PC, just as I was about to put it up on the radio I saw it was being followed by a lone traffic officer.

The car turned into a road that I know to be a dead end so we decided to walk back and give the officer support. As we were walking to the road I saw the male running so we started chasing whilst giving commentry on the radio. We split up and I went to the other end of the estate as I knew this was the only other way out whilst my colleague kept behind the driver.

When I got the other end the male was about 5m away coming towards me, i shouted "stop get on the ground" I made him jump as he didnt see me there and he dived onto the floor so I held him down until the PC arrived as he was swearing and shouting at me and thrashing about. when the PC got there he cuffed the guy and the traffic officer turned up and told us the car was stolen and he has knocked the officer off his motorcycle.

When I wrote my statement my sgt came and spoke to me saying that I had overstretched my remit because I had "used more force than what was allocated to me" which in my white notes states "limited reasonable force which is no more than placing one hand on a person stating that they are detained". And that he hopes that it doesnt go to court as any good defence would pick up on that and I would have to explain my actions in court.

sorry about the long message glad to get it off my chest though.
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Is it me or has it all gone quiet?
by localpcso on 2009-04-27 – 10:18:04
title-3929565
by localpcso on 2008-03-24 – 10:01:31
Back again
by localpcso on 2008-03-05 – 11:39:16
Lazy days
by localpcso on 2007-12-11 – 07:12:54
Neighbourhood watch
by localpcso on 2007-11-24 – 23:11:14
uniform
by localpcso on 2007-11-18 – 23:14:04
Free Christmas shopping
by localpcso on 2007-11-15 – 10:30:34
Is it a bird?, is it a plane?
by localpcso on 2007-11-06 – 20:44:02
Its been a while
by localpcso on 2007-11-02 – 11:05:36
Blagging it
by localpcso on 2007-10-16 – 23:50:33

Mike on Lazy days
PC Bitseach on uniform
C on title-3929565
PCSO wishing to be a PC on uniform
The Captain on Back again
Vagas Jack on uniform
BLUEMAGIC on Lazy days
pcso helen crich C9884 on Back again
Duncan on Lazy days
Sarah on Lazy days

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13 Comments to uniform

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