2003 press releases

Special Problem for Sussex Police

There are 148 fewer special constables now serving in Sussex Police than in 1997. There were 465 special constables in Sussex in 1997, since then there has been continual drop each year, to just 317 currently serving special constables in the Sussex area. Nationally there has been a drop of over five and a half thousand special constables since 1997. This worrying statistic was revealed to Lewes MP Norman Baker in a response to a parliamentary question to Home Office Minister John Denham.

The Minster set out the declining numbers of special constables in the following table:

Year	1997	1998	1999	2000
Total Strength (England & Wales)	19,163	17,296	15,727	13,487
Strength in Sussex	465	415	377	317

Commenting on these figures Mr Baker said: "Special constables play a vital role in supporting the local police force. They are part of a British tradition of the public taking an active role in policing their own community. They are trained, uniformed and have full police powers and carry out many of the same duties as regular officers. Such a significant drop in numbers is deeply concerning, especially when regular police strength in Sussex itself is down from 3085 in 1997 to 2855 in March 2001."

"The government is failing to attract enough people to either the regular police force or as special constables, and government action is needed urgently."

The Lib Dems have suggested the following measure to try to encourage the public back to the special constabulary:

• Create a new category of paid part-time retained police officer post, which Special Constables would be eligible to apply for.
• Ensure Special Constables have compensation after injury on the same basis as full time police officers.
• Allow reasonable statutory entitlements for time off work for court appearances which are part of Special Constables' duties.
• Encourage all police services to set up representative committees to involve Special Constables in day to day decisions about their role.

"It is time that volunteer Special Constables are put on a proper footing with adequate insurance cover, reasonable entitlements for time off to appear in court and a guarantee of financial help if they are injured in the line of duty. I believe when these problems are solved the decline in numbers of special constables will stop."

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