Police Community Support Officer

Do you like to build strong working relationships?

Are you a good listener and a clear communicator?

Do you want to make a real difference to the communities of the West Midlands?

West Midlands Police are currently recruiting Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) and this could be the role for you!

About the role:

PCSO’s are a crucial link between local neighbourhoods and the Police, as they provide a visible presence within their local communities. PCSO’s conduct patrols to help prevent crime, keep people safe from harm and increase community trust and confidence. Within the role you’ll become an integral member of the neighbourhood that you work in; shaping positive partnerships with organisations such as schools, the local Council, businesses and charities.

Trained to calm heated situations, PCSOs defuse hostility and provide that all important reassurance to help make our communities safer. As a PCSO you will have different powers to Police Officers so you will not be expected to make arrests or investigate crimes, your role will be based around proactively preventing crime specific to the local area you are working in.

As a PCSO, you can expect to:

Connect with communities, empowering and encouraging them to become more involved with the policing of their area. As part of this you will represent West Midlands Police at local events, conduct meetings within the community and deliver presentations at schools Identify and understand key issues and crimes and work with the public to remove and prevent these

Understand the diversity and demographics of your community and find ways to engage with harder to reach community members

Be able to talk to community members about the issues affecting them

Maximise opportunities to gather intelligence about harm and criminality through enhanced relationships with the community, partners and colleagues

Work with partners to deliver agreed objectives

This role requires applicants to work 36.5 hours per week, covering a shift pattern spanning from Monday to Sunday including evening and weekend work. Shift patterns vary with cover between 08:00hrs – 00:00hrs.

About you:

Excellent communication skills both written and verbal

Strong decision maker, who is also confident in working collaboratively as well as independently

Ability to remain calm under pressure when dealing with confrontational situations

Proactive approach to problem solving

Keen interest in working with the public and local communities

You must to be ready to undertake a fitness test (Bleep Test) to level 5.4

Please note that this role carries a tenure agreement – PCSOs are unable to apply for alternative Police Staff roles within West Midlands Police for two years following their start date.

You will be posted to where the vacancies are at the time of starting with West Midlands Police. Successful candidates will not be posted to their home Neighbourhood Policing Unit.

About Us

West Midlands Police is England’s second largest police force. Together we serve the 2.9 million people who call the region home - one of the youngest and most diverse populations in Europe.

Our vision is to be recognised as a police service that is big enough to cope with everything that is asked of us, while showing we are small enough to care about the things that really matter to people.

Together we will fulfil our mission of working in partnership, making communities safer.

Benefits for employees of West Midlands Police Force include:

The opportunity to work in a wide range of policing departments

Extensive training and development throughout your career

Annual leave purchase scheme

Generous pension scheme

Family Friendly Employer - Enhanced Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave and Childcare Vouchers - save up to £900 a year

Access to EAP (Employer Assistance Programme)

Social clubs, sports clubs, and regional events

Discounts on gym memberships, travel and leisure, homeware and tech

Blue light card membership eligibility - over 15,000 discounts from large national retailers, including special member events across the UK

Police Mutual - access to affordable private healthcare, mortgage services and much more

Leave Entitlement - 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 days after five years

West Midlands Police is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, national origin, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We are committed to delivering a fair and inclusive recruitment process and ensuring that no applicant is disadvantaged because of their disability. If you require any reasonable adjustments to the be made to our recruitment process, please let us know. All information shared will be kept confidential.

Guaranteed Interview Schemes:

As a Disability Confident Leader and we operate a Disability Confident Interview Scheme. All candidates who share with us that they are disabled and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview*.

As a proud signatory of the Armed Services Covenant and Care Leaver Covenant, West Midlands Police also operate a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for Military Service Leavers and Care Leavers who meet the minimum role requirements.

*There may be times we cannot interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example, seasonal and high-peak times. In these situations, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, we will select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Prospective officers and staff must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. This is to ensure that members of the police are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to them and the standards of professional behaviour they swear to uphold.

Contact – For more information please contact careers@westmidlands.police.uk

Vetting – Successful applicants will be required to pass Recruitment Vetting and Counter Terrorism Clearance scrutiny prior to commencing their role, this will include a full background & financial disclosure as part of the vetting process.

Medical - Appointment to this role will be dependent upon successfully medical checks, which may include a drugs test and if required a fitness test.

About Us

West Midlands Police is the second largest police force in the country, covering an area of 348 square miles and serving a population of almost 2.8 million.

The region sits at the very heart of the country and covers the three major centres of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. It also includes the busy and thriving districts of Sandwell, Walsall, Solihull and Dudley. Leisure, retail and conference amenities, together with Premiership and Championship football teams, attract millions of visitors annually.

The West Midlands is an area rich in diversity, with 18 per cent of its population from ethnic minority backgrounds.

An average of 170,000 motorists travel through the region daily, making its motorways some of the busiest in Europe.

Against this backdrop, the force deals with more than 2,000 emergency calls for help every day, as well as patrolling the streets and responding to incidents 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week.