SPECIAL Constables are to be invited to join the Police Federation as full subscribing members after a favourable vote at the body\u2019s Annual General Meeting.<\/p>\n
The conference motion stated Specials wanting to join will be \u201crequired to pay the same rate of subscription to the voluntary fund as serving officers in order to access the full range of membership services.\u201d\u00a0This currently stands at \u00a321.58 a month.<\/p>\n
John Apter, chairman of Hampshire Police Federation, said: \u201cToday we have made the right decision. As a former Special Constable and somebody who can see the real benefit our Special Constable colleagues bring to policing it is right and proper they are welcomed as Federation members.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecial Constables are an integral part of our business, they carry a warrant card and provide invaluable support to our members. This is a great result and one I am proud to support.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are presently some 18,000 Special Constables in England and Wales.<\/p>\n
Only 12.5 per cent of Special Constables responded to a federation online survey last year asking whether they wanted to join the Staff Association.<\/p>\n
Of those that responded 2,356 (94 per cent) said they would choose to become a member of the Police Federation.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the conference, Ian Miller, a City of London Police Special and a member of the Association of Special Constabulary Chief Officers (ASCCO), said that this low turn out was possibly a reflection of the fact that the conference has consistently voted no to allowing specials to join.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the vote was a true picture,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are aware of the \u2018no\u2019 vote from the last conference and when it is discussed among Specials there is a feeling that \u2018they wont vote for us anyway.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
DCC Michael Banks, from Durham Police, who leads nationally on Specials, told the conference that volunteer officers worked four and a half million hours for the police service last year. This was the equivalent of \u00a375 million in manpower costs.<\/p>\n
Insp Sean Bell, from Merseyside Police Federation, said: \u201cI think they should join the Police Federation. We have been approached on several occasions by members of the Special Constabulary asking for support and it is always a big debate as to whether we should or we shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the subscription they pay should be based on their income. They have a variety of different roles and a lot of them are students who are thinking of joining the police so a lot of them are potentially members anyway. I think it should be a sliding scale.\u201d<\/p>\n