A year in the life of a Kent Special Constable

Special Constable Tommy McGlone from the Medway Special Support 

Special Constable Tommy McGlone

Unit looks back over one of his busiest years as a Special in Kent

Every shift as a Special Constable is different. I work in the Special Support Unit carrying out warrants, dealing with public order incidents and policing football matches and other big public events.

Here’s a recap of my last year in the Kent Special Constabulary – it’s been a pretty eventful one.

 

Life or death

One of the most daunting calls I attended was a fatal traffic collision.

I was in one of the first patrol cars to arrive at the scene and got out to hold up the car which had overturned. The male driver was unconscious at the wheel and had come off the road. I took him out of the car and started CPR, but sadly, despite our best efforts, he later passed away from his injuries.

Nothing can fully prepare you for what you experience as a Special Constable.

During some shifts, you may find yourself in life or death situations. The training is solid, and prepares you as much as possible. But the rest comes down to your own strength of character.

Helping people at their most vulnerable

I also dealt with a woman trying to jump into the River Medway. I thought fast and restrained her in order to save her, but looking back, I realise how dangerous that situation was.

My colleague and I had to jump over a wall and catch her before she fell into the water, but a few seconds longer and it may have been too late.

She was later sectioned and taken to a mental health unit in Dartford.

That same month I was back at the river again, helping talk a man out of the water who was submerged up to his waist. He’d called the police saying he was going to kill himself.

I’ve had a lot of experience talking to people in situations like that, and was able to use the skills I’d learnt well that night. I quickly built up a rapport with him and after 20 minutes he got out of the river safely.

In and out of uniform

As a Special, just like a regular officer, you have powers of arrest and the authority to police (as appropriate)  whether you’re on duty or not.

I put this to use one night on the way back from a Specials training session when a colleague and I drove past a car that had collided with a tree. We stopped and directed traffic, and attended to the driver who’d injured her neck while we waited for the regular officers and ambulance to arrive.

Volunteer satisfaction

I’ve been a Special for four years now, but this year saw my most satisfying arrest; that of a man who had on him 90 ‘deal’ bags filled with cannabis, a large loose amount of the drug, around £2000 in cash as well as  a machete-type knife and a metal baseball bat. 

That one felt pretty good.

I used to be in the military, but once I left, I felt something was missing. Being a Special has filled that void and more, especially because my team is such a close-knit one.

All I can say is if you want to volunteer and make a difference in your community then there’s no more challenging, exciting or satisfying way to do so than getting involved with Kent Specials.

You can find out more about joining the Kent Special Constabulary by attending our next recruitment event.

Being a Special Constable: fighting drug crime

Special Constable Will Liley describes how a Special Constable can play a role in tackling drug crime

One of my most memorable experiences since becoming a Special Constable took place a few months back on a busy Friday evening in Maidstone town centre.

I was taking part in an operation to crack down on drug use among pub and club goers; we visit local social hot-spots, swabbing and testing surfaces for signs of drugs. Sometimes we’ll swab customers too! 

That night, I was in plain clothes acting as a ‘spotter’. This means watching people’s reactions as they’re approached by uniformed officers patrolling with sniffer dogs. 

I was looking out for people who’d immediately turn and walk away, or who’d shiftily play with their pockets – all tell-tale signs they’re hiding something.

Trying to escape

I saw a group of four men stood by a fast food restaurant in Week Street. I watched closely as the officers got closer, sniffer dogs trotting keenly by their sides.

The men froze as soon as they saw them; in a split-second, they’d made a run for it. 

I knew exactly what I had to do. 

Sprinting after them, I shouted out that I was a police officer and called for them to stop; unsurprisingly, they just ignored me. 

The four split up, disappearing through a maze of side roads. I focused on one man, carrying a bag. As I chased him he got quicker and quicker, and I began struggling to keep up.

He grabbed at his bag and hurled it into a nearby wheelie bin. He stumbled, having performed the move at great speed, giving me the extra couple of seconds I needed to catch up. Finally I caught him! 

A great feeling

We fell to the ground as he tried to break free, but I secured him with hand cuffs and placed him under arrest.

My colleagues had seen me give chase and were following closely behind. One of the team pulled the bag from the bin; we found drugs, drug paraphernalia and a wallet so full of cash it barely closed.

Later on, his three friends were found and arrested too.

With the offender back in custody, my job was only partly done. His address had to be searched and paperwork completed.

Being a special is a varied and exciting volunteer role. You learn to think quickly on your feet and are driven by a need to protect those in your community from harm. 

The great result that night left me with a feeling of real satisfaction. I’d say to anyone reading this, ask yourself: 'Could I do something really Special?'

Want to find out more about becoming a Special Constable? Get details of the next Specials recruitment event in Swale on Thursday 23 July.

National Volunteers Week 2015: being a Special Constable

Responding to a domestic abuse call

To mark National Volunteers Week, Special Constable Nina Johnson* describes a night of volunteering she'll remember for ever

It was dark when we arrived around 10pm. We couldn’t find the entrance at first - neither could the paramedics. Eventually we found the door down a dark alleyway and across a narrow rear yard.

We knocked. No answer. We knocked again.

A figure appeared behind the glass panel and unlocked the door. I could only see her silhouette, framed by a dim light from the kitchen behind her. She spoke, but I couldn’t make out her words. Then she turned her face to the light and I understood why.

Jennifer’s* eyelids were purple and swollen; her top lip was split in half right up to her nose. My insides were churning as I tried to comprehend why anyone would do such a thing; a mixture of anger, empathy, incredulity and urgency all rose within me.

But I had to control my emotions. I’m a Special Constable and the role requires resilience. I have to remain calm and professional, especially in a situation like this.

As gently as possible, I asked her: “Who did this to you?”

With a shaking arm she pointed at a photograph of her and her husband on their wedding day. They both looked so happy in the picture.

I stayed with Jennifer while the ‘regular’ officer I was crewed with checked the flat for any sign of her husband. My radio crackled into life as I heard him update the control room:

“Paramedics are on scene. We’ll need CSI attendance. The bedroom is covered with blood.”

Special support

While the paramedics attended to Jenifer’s wounds, she and I communicated on pen and paper. I learnt some basic details: her husband’s name and the pub he was likely to be at.

We couldn’t talk for long. She needed urgent medical attention and was quickly put in the ambulance to be transported to hospital.

As the ambulance left, Jennifer’s friend Tanya* arrived. It was Tanya who had called the police. She told me she had spoken to Jennifer on the phone earlier that evening, but could barely understand what she was trying to say. From Jennifer’s muffled sounds, Tanya just about made out that Jennifer was at home and badly hurt. So she hung up, called 999 and drove straight to Jennifer’s to help.

From Tanya, I learnt that Jennifer’s husband had been aggressive towards his wife before, and it got worse when he was drunk.

Later that night - outside the pub where Jennifer said he would be - her husband was arrested.

When interviewed back at the station, he admitted beating his wife and was remanded in custody until trial, where he ultimately received a suspended sentence.

When asked why he'd done it, he said it was because she spent too much money redecorating. 

A few days later Jennifer had surgery to reconstruct her top lip.

'I'll never forget'

I’d only been a Special Constable a few months when I responded to Tanya’s call about her friend Jennifer. I won’t ever forget it.

I often wonder what happened next. I hope she is safe and has moved on with her life; I hope she took advantage of the support on offer to help heal the emotional scars, which often endure way beyond any physical ones.

I began my shift the night of Jennifer’s attack with no idea how the evening would turn out. That’s often the way it goes. In the midst of such a horrible situation I’m glad I was able to be there for her; and I’m pleased she had a friend who cared about her enough to call emergency services.

When I signed up to become a Special, like most people who join, I wanted to protect the vulnerable and catch criminals. I think my colleagues and I achieved our goal that night. I’d recommend it to anyone.

If you are affected by domestic abuse, please ask for help. Call us on 999 in an emergency.

Apply to become a Special Constable and help people like Jennifer.

For non-urgent help and advice about the issues in this blog, visit the domestic abuse section of the Kent Police website.

*Names have been changed to protect the victim

National Stalking Awareness Week - Dos and Don'ts

DC Rachel Freeman
Investigator trainer

Hello all,

Let’s move onto the dos and don’ts if you think you’re being stalked. This is not a definitive list but definitely some things to consider.

• DO - report the matter to police.
• DO - contact the National Stalking Helpline for advice and support.
• DO - let others know about what’s going on.
• DO - keep records of what has been happening.
• DO - change your passwords regularly. This can be particularly important if the stalker is an ex-partner who may know your commonly used passwords.
•  DO NOT - ignore it and hope it will go away. Research has demonstrated the persistence of stalkers. 
• DO NOT - meet up with a stalker. This could put you at risk of harm, even if you know them. It may also be possible that other people try to make something of the fact that you have met them, jumping to the wrong conclusion.
• DO NOT - delete messages/voicemails or throw away items you may have been sent – these may be able to be used as evidence. The Criminal Justice System requires evidence and often what you think is irrelevant might be important.
• NOTE: If you are reading this and have already discarded evidence, don’t worry - it is still important to report the matter and there may be other ways to capture evidence. 
• DO NOT - isolate yourself by withdrawing from using social networking sites, phones or e-mail. 
• DO NOT - engage family, friends or anyone else to ‘have a word’ with the stalker. It is rare that such encounters are productive and they can make matters much worse. It might be possible that an offender can use such incidents to make counter allegations.
• DO NOT - listen to yourself or others when they try to minimise what is happening to you. Stalking is serious and blights people’s lives.
• DO NOT - immediately change your status on Facebook or other social networking sites if you have just finished a relationship. If the stalker is an ex-partner this can sometimes make things worse.

What not to say to a victim of stalking
People with good intentions can sometimes give advice or make well-meaning comments to victims with detrimental side effects. Here are some of the most common mentioned to advisors at the National Stalking Helpline:

‘You’re being a bit dramatic aren’t you?’, ‘Are you sure you’re not being a bit paranoid?’, ‘I wish I had a stalker’, ‘If they were going to harm you they would have done it already’, ‘If you didn’t look at the stuff, it wouldn’t upset you’

If someone you know talks to you about a situation that is worrying them, it will probably have taken a lot of courage to do so. Try to support them, remember what you’ve read this week and encourage them to come forward so police can investigate.

Thanks for reading,

Rachel

National Stalking Awareness Week - what to do if you think you may be a victim

DC Rachel Freeman
Investigator trainer

Hello again,

Would you know what to do if you are suffering at the hands of a stalker? If the honest answer is no, please keep reading. If the answer was yes, humour me and keep reading as well – there may be something you find useful.

Being stalked or harassed can be extremely alarming and frightening. It is the repetition of the behaviour that makes it even more sinister. Recent advice issued for victims is summed up using the mnemonic REPORT* – hopefully this makes it a little easier to remember.

•    REPORT IT AND TELL OTHERS - contact the police and talk to your family and friends.

•    ENSURE YOU GET GOOD ADVICE - talk to people with experience of this issue -  call the National Stalking Helpline on 0808 8020 300 or visit www.stalkinghelpline.org

•    Be PROACTIVE – keep all messages, gifts, communications, letters, and preserve them. If you are followed in a car, drive through an area where you know there are CCTV cameras. I must stress however that if you feel in immediate danger you should try to find somewhere safe and call 999 immediately.

•    OVERVIEW: KEEP A DIARY - log what is happening including the time, date and details. Once again, it must be stressed, if you feel you are in immediate danger, the diary is no substitute for calling the police on 999.

•    RISK CHECKLIST – once reported, the police will usually ask you questions in order to complete a risk screening checklist. If you think you are at risk, and a checklist has not already been completed, you can download and complete your own. Once completed, pass this to the police for them to consider.

•    TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS AND NEVER MAKE CONTACT WITH YOUR STALKER - if you are frightened or worried, call 999 and go to a safe place. It is advised that victims do not contact or respond to a stalker in any other way. 
    
In my next blog, we’ll look at the do’s and don’ts, the common misconceptions about stalking and advice on what not to say to someone if they think they’re being stalked.

Rachel

*Information reproduced courtesy of Laura Richards. For further information about about her work on stalking and domestic abuse, visit www.laurarichards.co.uk

National Stalking Awareness Week - the law

DC Rachel Freeman
Investigator trainer

Hi again, hope you’re all having a good day. 

Today I'm going to talk about the specific law that covers stalking offences.

Before 1997 no specific laws existed to protect someone if they were harassed or stalked. Both police and prosecutors had to rely on a few existing laws to try and bring offenders to justice. That meant some offenders were charged with ‘psychological’ assault. When in court, prosecutors had to prove that the assault caused some appreciable psychological harm, which wasn’t always easy.

Many felt that the existing laws did not protect people enough, and as a result the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 was passed.

This Act was later criticised because of its tendency to deal with more minor incidents so on 25 November 2012, specific stalking offences were added.

If you want to read more about the legislation itself, the Crown Prosecution Service has more information.

Harassment covers two separate offences:

•    'causing alarm or distress'
•    'putting people in fear of violence'.

These offences are subject to a course of conduct, which simply means there must have been at least two incidents. If there haven’t been two or more incidents already, police can consider using, where appropriate, existing offences and/or a warning to the offender. 

Harassment can mean an unwelcome verbal or written communication, sexual harassment, racially/religiously aggravated harassment, psychological harassment, threats and damage to property.

The new stalking offences sit on top of the two harassment offences I’ve just mentioned. The Act now lists the following, although not exhaustive, as a number of behaviours associated with stalking:

•    following a person
•    contacting or attempting to contact by any means
•    publishing material relating to the victim or seemingly by the victim
•    loitering in any place
•    interfering with any property in possession of someone
•    watching or spying on a person
•    monitoring that person using electronic communication

Importantly, the new section creates TWO offences relating to stalking. Where stalking which by its nature causes the victim to fear violence and; when stalking causes someone serious alarm or distress that has a substantial effect on their day-to-day lives, for example changing jobs, changing routines, moving house and so on. 

In my next blog I’ll be providing some advice if you think you may be the victim of a stalker.

Goodbye for now.
Rachel

National Stalking Awareness Week - help is available.

DC Rachel Freeman
Investigator trainer

Hello there,

I’m Detective Constable Rachel Freeman, one of Kent Police's trainers. I regularly work with officers to make sure they are up to speed on the latest legislation so they can better support victims of crime.

I will be publishing a series of blogs every day this week – National Stalking Awareness Week – to help you understand the issues involved around stalking. So if you feel you may be a victim, or know a victim, I hope this will help.

Here’s an idea of what I’ll be covering this week.

I’ll let you know about the current stalking and harassment laws, explaining them as straightforwardly as I can so you know how we can help, and understand the support that is available for victims.

Over the course of the week I’ll also post about what to do if you think you may be suffering at the hands of a stalker, things you shouldn’t do and why, information about diary logs as well as looking at the different types of stalking, such as digital and cyber stalking. 

Whether you think you may be a victim of stalking or have never experienced it, please keep reading. It might be that a family member, friend or even a colleague experiences it in the future. Hopefully you’ll feel better placed to help someone find the courage they need to come forward to the police and get the help they need.

Any victim of stalking will tell you how distressing this type of offending is - and no one should have to deal with it on their own.

If my work this week gives at least one victim the confidence to come forward then it will have been worthwhile.

Until my next post, why not watch this video on stalking from the Suzy Lamplaugh Trust, the UK’s personal safety charity.

Thanks for reading… stay tuned.

Specials Week - Meet Phil Booth a Special Inspector who joined in his mid-thirties

S/Inspector Phil Booth | Kent Police Special Constabulary

Hi everyone, 

As a day job I work as a teacher and Subject Head at a school in Medway. When I’m not working or being a special I’m a big supporter of Gills FC and enjoy competing in cycling events, riding for Medway Velo Cycling Club.

My day job means I work extremely hard but it still gives me time to carry out my duties as a Special. Most of my shifts are Friday evenings but I do like to get out more during school holidays.

I joined up in November 2007 and over the last 6 1/2 years I’ve been in a variety of different roles across Medway and Swale for Kent Police.

At the moment I’m an Inspector responsible for the Special District Team in Swale. I was fortunate enough to be promoted to the management role in 2012 and I’ve had the opportunity to develop my skills further, many of which I can easily transfer to my day job which is great. Our team works alongside response teams in north Kent dealing with 999 calls and emergencies.

I only became a special in my mid-thirties and whilst I was a little apprehensive that being older may have meant that I wasn’t suited for the role I soon realised that it meant that I could bring my life experiences and skills from my civilian job to the force.

My intention was never to join as a regular officer but I now see myself as a ‘career special’. The rewards will always keep me going, knowing that I have done something to improve my community. 

The role is immensely enjoyable, I really value working with regular officers and our team and I enjoy the real sense of team spirit that exists here.

Training has always been well delivered and you soon pick up all of the necessary skills and pass your on-going exams. My initial training was a great experience and whilst in some ways it was a little sad to finish, it was incredibly exciting to move on and be out on patrol.

I quickly found out first hand that Kent Police was one big team. As police officers we attend all sorts of jobs ranging from anti-social behaviour issues to attending burglaries and more serious crimes. Residents don’t see us differently and are often very surprised to hear that we volunteer our time. 

One area where I did feel that I made a real difference was when I organised an operation tackling large numbers of nuisance vehicles causing issues in a local industrial estate. Organising this operation used a great deal of my personal and professional skills and the strong team spirit and ‘can do’ attitude that exists here meant it all ran smoothly. It was great that our operation had a long-term effect on reducing the issues around anti-social motorists in this area, and gave us all a real sense of achievement and doing some good for the local community.

Kent Police has provided me with training throughout my time in the force and I feel well equipped to perform my role and support my teams of officers. I like to think that I have had a positive impact with what I do and I find the role so rewarding.

If you are thinking about joining the Specials then I would thoroughly recommend it. Having served for a number of years every shift is still different and brings new challenges. Kent is a county of wide contrasts, everyone will find a role that interests them, and of course, you will be supported every step of your journey.

Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed it. If you have any questions about becoming a Special please leave a comment below.

Phil

Specials Week - Message from the Police and Crime Commissioner

Police and Crime Commissioner

Ann Barnes

Specials do truly remarkable things for our county. Did you know they have been around even longer than the regular force?

They stand shoulder to shoulder with their regular police officer colleagues, but give their free time, without payment, to help keep us safe. 

Last year, the Specials gave nearly 100,000 hours of voluntary policing to Kent – a staggering amount. As a gesture of appreciation and to say thank you, I found the funding to pay the police precept part of the council tax for Specials who’ve served for over two years. It’s a big investment and speaks volumes for how I think the people of Kent feel about these magnificent volunteers, and I’m pleased to say they’ll be able to claim it from 1st April.

Last year I also gave almost £250,000 to the Special Constabulary to help recruit and train more volunteers, and was one of the first Police and Crime Commissioners to make such an investment. I hope this shows that I really do recognise and value the unique contribution that Special Constables make by devoting their time to helping others in the community.

The men and women who volunteer to help police our communities usually have a day job, yet they find the time, for free, to help out and to keep everyone safe. I take my hat off to them. The Specials are ordinary people doing an extraordinary thing and that’s why I’ve invested heavily in the scheme. 

If you have ever been interested in policing and have some time to spare, I’d urge you to apply to the Special Constabulary. I’d love to see more ‘mature’ members of our communities joining up – it’s never too late – I’m living proof. 

Becoming a Special Constable really is one of the very best ways to give something back to your community – so come on everyone!

Ann Barnes, KPCC