The Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) is the part-time volunteer police force of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service.[1] Created nearly 180 years ago under the Special Constables Act of 1831, it currently consists of nearly 5,000 volunteer police officers. The target strength is 6,667 by 1st April, 2012.
Prior to 1 April 2007, officers of the MSC only had jurisdiction within the Metropolitan Police District and adjacent force areas, being Kent, Surrey, Essex, Thames Valley, the City of London and Hertfordshire. However they now have the full powers of a Constable throughout England and Wales.
Specials are required to undertake a minimum of 200 hours of operational duties every year, which equates to four hours each week. However, many specials do more than the basic requirement.
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Each Borough Operational Command Unit (BOCU) which provides policing for each of the 32 London boroughs has a contingent of Special Constables, usually supervised by a number of Special Sergeants and a Special Inspector. Some BOCUs may have as many as 150 MSC officers, Westminster has almost 300, the vast majority have closer to 50 officers.
A number of Specials are sponsored by their employers as part of the Employer Supported Policing (ESP) scheme, in which employers release their employees for a specific amount of time every fortnight to perform MSC duties.[2]
Special Constables have the freedom to choose what borough they work in, their duties and their hours. The teams in which specials work depends on BOCU - some prefer to task their specials to safer neighbourhood teams (SNT), whilst others work alongside regular colleagues on a variety of teams and operations. There are three MSC Operational Support Units (OSU), which are tasked with providing high-visibility policing and public order patrols across the Metropolitan Police District, normally on Friday and Saturday nights. The OSUs are the main units on which Specials are routinely trained in Level 2 Public Order tactics, which include shield tactics and various public order scenarios at Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre Gravesend (MPSTC). The OSU regularly carry out operations with the TSG and other specialist branches of the Met and provide different size PSUs, Police Support Unit (UK), for various protests and football matches. There are also a small number of Special Constables who are part of Central Operations (CO) specialist units such as the Marine Support Unit, Heathrow Airport OCU (ID), the MSC Traffic OCU (TD) and now Safer Transport Command (STC).
Special constables undergo a structured recruitment process[3] from application to the offer of an appointment. There are two main stages in the selection of Special Constables called Day One and Day Two. After an initial assessment of a Specials application, suitable candidates are invited to attend the Selection Centre at Hendon Police College.
Day One: This involves an interview which lasts 40–45 minutes and a written assessment. Throughout Day One, the following qualities competencies are assessed: decision making, communication, personal responsibility, resilience, respect for diversity, customer focus and teamwork.
Day Two: Candidates who are successful at Day One are invited back to the Selection Centre to undertake Day Two. This involves a Job Related Fitness Test including a beep test and Strength Test. Candidates also have a Full Medical examination which is conducted by a registered Nurse who checks various aspects of a candidate’s health, including eyesight and hearing.
Security and Vetting: If a candidate is successful at both stages of selection, they have to pass security and vetting which can take anything from a few weeks to up to a year. If security and vetting checks prove satisfactory, a candidate is offered a place on an MSC training course. The candidate pass rate for the assessments is around 1 in 5.
Once Special Constables have finished their foundation training, they take the Police Oath at an attestation ceremony at New Scotland Yard. At this event, they are issued with their Warrant Card and then they enjoy the full powers and privileges of a Constable throughout England and Wales and adjacent Waters.[4]
The MSC Foundation Training course[3] consists of twenty-three days of training (now including counter terrorism, and "Every Child Matters" child protection training), incorporating twelve classroom days, four days of officer safety training, and two days of first aid training, tending to take place on one Sunday per week over the course of four months at Hendon Police College. In addition to the Training School at Hendon, MSC Foundation Training is now conducted at local training sites throughout London including Bethnal Green, Orpington and Barkingside. It's worth noting that the training consists of three main assessments to ensure knowledge and assessments for Officer Safety Training and Emergency Life Support.
Alternatively, an intensive course can be taken over three weeks and three days (now four weeks and three days) at Hendon Police College. During the course of their training special constables are issued with an identical uniform and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as their regular colleagues (Batons, Handcuffs and CS spray). When the uniform is issued, Special Constables can wear it at their training. Special Constables are required to wear a small SC and a crown on their epaulettes.[3] After completing their initial training further training is provided at their local Borough and units, which continues throughout their career. Resources permitting, some experienced officers are also trained as Response police drivers whilst others can be trained to deal with public order events.
MSC officers receive no payment for duties they perform. However, they can claim travelling and subsistence expenses as well as an allowance for footwear. They are also afforded free travel both on/off duty on the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, London Buses the Croydon Tramlink and London Overground on production of their Warrant Card.[3]
The MSC is managed from within by a number of administratively graded special constables, with gradings as follows:
Share the same epaulette insignia*
The MSC is currently headed by Chief Officer Lorraine Woolley who previously was the Deputy Chief Officer of the MSC. Her predecessor was John Barradell who resigned on 16th April 2007.
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