Police support volunteers
Wiltshire Police Community Volunteers and Special Constabulary are a vital part of the policing family.
- Can you spare a few hours a week to assist Wiltshire Police's supporting officers and staff?
- Can you offer professional skills, support in administrative tasks or as educators to the public?
Whatever your role Police Support Volunteers make a significant impact on the constabulary and the communities we serve.
Volunteers are highly trained and help us in many aspects of police work, including engaging with our communities and providing operational assistance where appropriate.
We are committed to supporting volunteers with the necessary skills, training, support and equipment to work with us in our streets, neighbourhoods, and communities. Below you will find everything you need to know to become a volunteer for Wiltshire Police.
Benefits for you
- Opportunities to give something back to the community
- Skills for your CV
- Enhanced skills and training
You will develop:
- self-confidence
- problem-solving skills
- effective communication
- team working skills
- respect for diversity
- resilience
- personal responsibility
- community and customer focus
Benefits for your employer
- Supports the local community
- Enhances employees' personal development
- Contributes to work/life balance
- Helps meet company corporate responsibility values
- Provides positive media opportunities
- Creates opportunities for partnerships
- Improves morale and motivation
- Develops staff for little or no cost
Current police support volunteer roles
There are no opportunities at the present time.
Eligibility
You must be aged 16 or over. There is no upper age limit for volunteers.
If you have a disability or require assistance with your application or attending an interview please let us know so that we can make necessary arrangements.
We will not accept your application if there is the possibility of a conflict of interest with your job or other volunteering positions, which is why we ask for full details of your current employment or other voluntary work.
Occupations that are incompatible with being a volunteer include:
- members of police authorities
- magistrates, clerks to justices and clerks to court
- members of county or district councils
- probation officers
- bailiffs, warrant officers
- Holders of liquor licences and managers of licensed houses
- licensees of betting/gaming premises
- private detectives and inquiry agents
- security officers, guards and door people
- members of employer's police forces and private constabularies
- civilian detention officers (employed by police authorities)
- custody officers and custody escort officers
- traffic wardens
- neighbourhood wardens
- members of the full-time fire service
- members of the armed forces
The following occupations may also be considered incompatible for particular volunteer roles:
- members of medical and health professions
- occupations with client privilege
- youth workers and social workers
- employees of security organisations
The information you give will be stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act. We will not use your information for anything other than monitoring by our HR/Personnel Department and Diversity Team.
If you do become a member of the volunteer programme your details will be kept in a personal file.
How to complete the application form
Please complete the application form in full. Application forms that are received incomplete will be returned to you which will delay your application.
All information you provide will be treated in confidence.
On the electronic version of the form, the boxes asking for detailed information automatically expand as you fill them in. Please use the tab key to move between fields.
Where the application is returned electronically, it will be assumed that you have read and agreed to the declaration at the end of page 4. Actual signatures will be sought when you attend the meeting with a local manager.
If you are under 18 you will need to get your application countersigned by a parent or guardian. If applying electronically, you will need to provide a letter signed by a parent or guardian giving consent to the application and the meeting with local manager.
You must provide us with the name and addresses of two people, not relatives, who are prepared to vouch for your character.
Where possible please include your current or most recent employer or volunteering organisation as a reference.
If you are using a friend to act as a reference please state on the form how you know them. We do not accept references sent with the application form.
In accordance with the Wiltshire Police Code of Conduct, you must let us know whether you have any tattoos on your face, neck, forearms or hands or piercings in your face. These will not prevent you from becoming a volunteer but may influence the location of your volunteering activity.
Tattoos containing images perceived to depict violent, sexist, racist or homophobic meaning are likely to disqualify you from being a volunteer.
In accordance with Health and Safety legislation for particular volunteer roles, we need to have details of any facial piercings you may have.
In your role as a volunteer you will be likely to come across confidential and sensitive information. You will also be subject to the Data Protection Act and Official Secrets Act. This is why we pick our volunteers very carefully.
For this reason you, your family and others who live at your address will be subject to a detailed vetting process.
A vetting form will only be sent to you after you have met with a local manager and we have accepted your application to volunteer with us.
If you are from the UK, the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland there are no restrictions on you volunteering with Wiltshire Police. However, if you are from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), then you are not allowed to take up work, paid or unpaid, including volunteering, without a valid work permit.
Your status is indicated in your passport or in a letter of status. If you are not from outside the EEA you must bring either of these documents with you when invited to an interview.
Due to the vetting requirements necessary before volunteering or having access to premises or assets within Wiltshire Police, it is difficult to complete thorough checks on individuals who have not been resident in the United Kingdom for the previous three years.
Therefore, in very exceptional circumstances, three year residency is an essential requirement.