Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mrs. Allchin and I'm going to be taking you through this citizenship lesson today.

I'm going to give you all the information that you need to be successful, and I'm also going to pause and tell you when to complete a check for understanding or a task.

Hope you enjoy the lesson.

This lesson is called "How Do Citizens Play a Part in Policing?" And it comes from the unit of lessons "How Can We Play a Part in the Legal System?" By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain how citizens support policing and our wider justice system.

The key words for today's lesson are we've got: Police officer, which is a paid employee who enforces the law and helps keep people safe; a special constable who is a volunteer police officer with the same powers as regular police officers; and police staff, people who work in support roles to help the police but don't have arrest powers.

Our lesson outline for how do citizens play a role in policing is first we're going to have a look at what is the role of a special constable, and we're then going to have a look at how do police staff support the legal system.

So let's start by looking at the role of a special constable.

So there are lots of key legal professionals that support our legal system.

So let's have a look at it as a whole.

We've got members of Parliament, MPs, and the judiciary through common law that make and shape laws, but must then be followed by all citizens.

We've then got police officers that then enforce those laws by investigating crime and making arrests when needed.

They gather evidence that might later be used in court.

And we've then got our court systems and the professionals within them that apply the law ensuring a fair trial and justice for all.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

State who: make and shape the law, enforce the law, and apply the law.

So parliament and the judiciary make and shape the law.

Police officers enforce the law.

And the court system and the professionals within them apply the law.

To ensure the police can carry out their role of enforcing the law, they are granted special powers by parliament and these are called police powers and ensure that they can gather evidence and investigate crime effectively.

So let's hear what police officer Koffi is saying.

So he's saying, "As police officers, we have the powers to arrest, to stop and search a person or vehicle and to enter a property to search and seize," so to take, "anything that could be related to crime.

These powers help us carry out our important job." So ultimately, to be able to do their job, they need to have these special police powers.

According to UK government statistics, in 2024 there were 170,500 police officers in the UK making the police a very large workforce.

Police numbers referred to as police service strength is something that government briefing papers report on and police recruitment and funding often appears in political parties' manifestos as a policy for the electorate to consider when making their voting decisions.

Because it's understood that actually having that police service strength, by having lots of police officers, it means that they're able to more effectively tackle crime.

So it's something that people really care about.

So Sam is asking, "How has further capacity been added to the police force?" Have a little think.

Think back to your keywords and see if you can remember.

So one of the ways that capacity has been added to the police force is through special constables.

So special constables often called specials.

So it's often it's just shorten to the word specials, are volunteer police officers in the UK.

They work alongside regular officers as volunteers, meaning they do not get paid and they carry out the role as a way of demonstrating their civic duty.

So this is something that people that have got spare time to add capacity to this role might sign up to do.

Their main role is to support police officers by adding capacity and improve community engagement and relationships.

So how does someone become a special constable? What do you think? So remember, this is a volunteer police role.

It's not a paid role.

So have a little bit of a think how might someone become a special constable? So let's hear what Billy has to say who was a special constable.

So they're saying, "I work in an office but had spare time and wanted to do something to contribute to my community.

I applied to be a special constable with my local police force, which involved passing a national online test and having an interview.

I also had for a vetting and had to pass medical and fitness tests." So as you can see there, this might appeal to someone that's got some spare time but really wants to give back to the community and do something for that civic engagement.

But of course, because of the importance of the role, there is tests and interviews and fitness tests that they have to go through just like a normal police officer would.

So let's have a check for understanding.

So there are now some mistakes in what Billy is saying.

Can you correct them? So Billy's now saying, "I applied to be a special constable through my local council.

I didn't need an interview, I just had to provide a reference.

I had thorough vetting.

Luckily I didn't need to complete a fitness test." So pause while you try and find the mistakes and correct them.

So these were the mistakes.

He would have applied through his local police force, not the local council.

He would have had a thorough interview and he would've had to have needed to complete a fitness test.

So another question for you.

What powers does a special constable have? So remember they've had the interview, they've had to do training, have fitness tests, but it's not a paid role.

So what powers does a special constable have? What are they actually able to do within their role? So let's hear from Billy.

"I have the same powers as a police officer when I'm on duty.

I can make arrests, carry out, stop and searches, use reasonable force if needed, issue fines, cautions and dispersal orders." That's where you ask people to leave an area.

"And seize," take, "criminal objects.

I also wear the same uniform as my police officer colleagues, which includes full body armour and equipment." So as you can see, special constables have the same police powers as officers.

Special constables contribute to our legal system in the following ways.

They enhance police presence, which gives the police more visibility within communities which could act as a crime deterrent.

So having more police officers, remember special constables are wearing the same uniform, having more police officers walking the streets in their communities, it could act as a crime deterrent.

As of 2024, there are over 6,000 special constables in the UK.

So there is a fair number.

They can support community engagement as well.

Special constables are from the local community.

They literally apply to their local police force and they're volunteering to improve their local community.

So it's therefore likely that they will have strong links to the citizens within the communities in which they serve.

They're wanting to help, they're wanting to give back.

And it also brings diversity and different perspectives to the role 'cause there'll be people that have got huge range of jobs that they do day to day in their normal lives.

So it is adding lots of diversity too.

So let's look at that in more detail.

So special constables bring a variety of skills to the role.

They volunteer, which means that they will likely also have another job that they do on a part-time or full-time basis.

So therefore the skills developed within these jobs may be a positive benefit to policing.

So for example, for their main job, they might be social workers or they might be medical professionals and therefore those skills can transfer over to their role as a special constable.

And they're also hugely cost effective as they carry out their role on a voluntary basis.

And that's ultimately one of the main differences between a special and a police officer.

Policing is a public service and is therefore paid for through taxation.

So our taxes go towards funding ultimately the police force.

So any additional capacity gained from special constables is financially beneficial for the UK.

So specials ultimately bring a huge range of benefits.

So let's have a check for understanding Correct these statements so they outline the benefits of special constables.

Special constables are expensive.

Special constables can't arrest anyone.

Special constables lack diversity and community links.

So let's see what they look like when they're corrected.

So special constables work on a voluntary basis, which means they're financially beneficial.

Special constables have the same powers as police officers, so they are able to add capacity.

And special constables represent wider society and are volunteering to support their community, meaning they often have strong community links.

For task A, I'd like you to outline the role of a special constable and how they support the legal system.

So in your answer, you could refer to police presence, community engagement, cost, as well as diversity and skills.

So when outlining the role of a special constable and how they support the legal system, you may have included: Special constable is a volunteer police officer who helps the regular police force by patrolling streets, respond to incidents and keeping communities safe.

They wear the same uniform and have the same powers as police officers.

By increasing police presence, special constables help to prevent crime in their communities.

As they are volunteers, they also save money for the police force.

They come from all kinds of backgrounds, which means they bring different skills like medical knowledge or social work which can be really helpful in certain situations.

They also help improve trust between the police and the public because they are regular people giving up their time to help their communities.

Their role makes sure the police have extra help without adding more costs, which is really important for the legal system.

So we've explored the role of a special constable.

We're now going to have a look at how do police staff support the legal system.

So policing does not just consist of police officers, it includes a wider police staff too, and that might be quite surprising.

You might not have really understood that.

And when we look at police staff as a whole, yes there's lots of police officers, but there's also lots and lots and lots of people that work for the police that are employed by the police that aren't officers.

Although these staff do not have police powers, they do support our legal system and ensure policing runs smoothly.

So Sofia is asking, "What roles do police staff carry out and how do these support the legal system?" So let's think about that again.

So these are people that are employed by the police.

They're police staff, but they're not police officers.

So they don't wear the uniform, they don't have police powers to arrest people.

So what sort of jobs do you think it might involve? So let's have a look at just some of the different roles within the police as a member of police staff.

So call handlers are police staff that play an important role as they are on the front line of receiving calls.

So call handlers answer 999 and 101 calls and they need to assess what is happening and ensure they send an appropriate response.

So when we're thinking about how the police officers enforce the law, sometimes it might be that a police officer sees a crime happening and just act straight away.

However, often it'll be that the police officers are actually sent to an area or sent to a house because of these.

So those call handlers play a really important first point of call.

They also support the legal system in relation to rights as they provide support for victims and witnesses of crime, ensuring their rights in relation to safety and security are met.

So a really, really crucial part of our legal system.

And these call handlers will be classed as police staff, not police officers.

Another role, and this might be something that you've seen and you've maybe watched television programmes about this, are crime scene investigators sometimes called CSIs for short.

So they work on crime scenes.

So they take photos, they gather DNA, they carry out in-depth forensic work to gather evidence relating to the crime that has taken place.

So they would be the people that might go into a house that had been broken into and dust the house looking for fingerprints.

If there'd been a serious violent crime, if there'd been a car collision, they would be the people that would be ultimately going into that potential crime scene and collecting lots and lots of evidence.

So their work supports the police in enforcing the law and making arrests.

Their work is also crucial in relation to the right to a fair trial and to be seen as innocent until proven guilty as the evidence that they gather will be used in court to decide guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

So again, these people that are police staff play an absolutely crucial role within our legal system because it's the evidence that they collect and that they have to collect absolutely correctly that could be shown in a court of law or it could be the evidence that allows the police to make an arrest.

So it's a really, really crucial police staff role.

Another role that police staff might carry out is the role of detention officers and they look after the immediate needs of a citizen when they have been arrested and taken into custody.

They handle welfare checks, legal access and medical needs, ensuring a suspect's rights are met.

Not only does it support the work of the police by ensuring successful and peaceful detention of suspects who've been detained, it also ensures a suspect's human rights are met in line with our legal system and legal rights.

So again, these people don't have police powers.

These people aren't making arrests.

They're not sort of going in and interviewing these people, but they're making sure that people that have been detained, that have been taken into custody are treated well and have all of their rights and their needs met, which does massively support the legal system.

And it really helps to keep things calm so that when interviews do take place, they can be effective and purposeful.

And we've also got administrative staff.

So we've also got all of the people that ultimately work in admin roles within the police.

So they'll be the people that often will be sat behind a computer and getting all of the paperwork together.

So they'll be making sure that for example, all the paperwork relating to a reported crime is up to date and organised correctly.

They prepare important documents such as case files, evidence and court documents.

So ultimately they're really heavily involved in the paperwork side, making sure that everything's recorded correctly, making sure that everything is up to date.

And without this work being carried out, criminal cases could fall apart due to missing paperwork.

So that's really, really important.

If something isn't filed correctly, actually the whole case could fall apart.

Their work ensures that justice is served and that both victims and suspects are treated fairly under the law, receiving a fair trial based on evidence.

So another really important staff role that supports our legal system.

So we just had quite a lot of information, so let's have a check for understanding to make sure it's all been understood.

So what I'd like you to do is match the police staff role to its function.

So the police staff roles are call handlers, crime scene investigators, detention officers and administrative staff.

And then the functions, we've got support suspects in custody, ensuring their rights are met; collecting forensic evidence to be used within court; looking after important paperwork relating to a case to ensure court processes run smoothly; and deploying police officers to crime scenes and ensuring the rights of victims and witnesses.

So pause while you have a go at matching those.

Let's see how you got on.

So the call handler is the person that deploys police officers to crime scenes.

They're that first point of call.

The crime scene investigators are those that are collecting that forensic evidence that we know will be then used within the courtroom.

Detention officers support suspects in custody ensuring those rights are being met.

Which means that the admin staff are looking after important paperwork relating to a case ensuring court processes run smoothly.

So while police officers are the visible frontline of law enforcement, police staff support and compliment the work of police officers by keeping the system running smoothly, they ensure that crimes are properly investigated, that justice is served, and that human rights are protected.

Their role is just as important in keeping our communities safe.

Without the police staff roles, it would be almost impossible for police officers to do their roles.

So they really do compliment each other.

As of 2024, there are over 79,000 police staff in England and Wales and they make up approximately 28% of the overall police workforce.

And this highlights the number of citizens who have jobs that significantly benefit the work of police officers.

So let's have a check for understanding.

What are the missing words? Police staff support and compliment the work of police officers by keeping the system running smoothly, they ensure something are properly investigated, something is served, and that human something are protected.

Pause while you have a go.

Let's see how you got on.

So police staff support and compliment the work of police officers by keeping the system running smoothly.

They ensure crimes are properly investigated, justice is served, and that human rights are protected.

Task B, I'd like you to outline how police staff support the work of police officers ensuring justice is served and the rights of suspects and victims are met.

You may wish to refer to some of the following police staff roles in your answer.

You don't have to refer to all of them, you can if you wish.

So you might wish to refer to the work of call handlers, crime scene investigators, detention officers, and administrative staff.

Pause while you have a go at this task.

When outlining how police staff support the work of police officers, you may have included: Police staff support police officers to make sure justice is served and everyone's rights are respected.

Call handlers, answer emergency calls and quickly send officers to help, which can stop crimes from escalating.

Crime scene investigators collect evidence like fingerprints and DNA, which helps catch the right person and avoid innocent people being blamed.

Detention officers look after people in custody, making sure they're treated fairly and have access to their human rights.

Administrative staff help with things like writing up reports and preparing files for court so cases don't fall apart because of missing paperwork.

All of this helps the police to do their job properly and keeps the legal system fair for everyone.

So in summary of the lesson, "How Do Citizens Play a Part in Policing?" Special constables are volunteer police officers who support regular officers by patrolling, responding to incidents and helping to keep communities safe.

They have the same powers as full-time officers and increase police presence, which helps prevent crime.

As volunteers from diverse backgrounds, they bring useful skills and help build trust with the public all while saving money for the police force.

Police staff play a vital role in supporting officers by ensuring that justice is delivered and rights are upheld from call handlers.

Coordinating emergency responses, CSIs gathering crucial evidence, detention officers safeguarding rights, and administrative staff ensuring legal processes run smoothly, each role supports the justice system.

Brings us to the end of this lesson.

Well done for all your hard work and I hope that you'll come up some more citizenship lessons in the future.