SYP - Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Apprenticeship Programme

Role: Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Apprenticeship Programme

Location:  Various across the South Yorkshire Police Force Area (Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham & Sheffield)

Salary: £23,331 - £25,809 (Band C)

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent – Please note permanency in this role is dependent on completion of the PCSO Apprenticeship programme.

South Yorkshire Police are currently recruiting for Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s). This is an exciting opportunity and one which hasn’t been advertised for several years. This is a new entry route for SYP and will see candidates complete the PCSO Apprenticeship programme as part of the role. The programme is approximately 18 months in length and once all areas have been completed employees will be awarded with a Level 4 Diploma in Community Policing Practice qualification.

This is a vital role here in South Yorkshire Police and one which serves as a bridge between the police force and the communities and people living within the force area.

Role Purpose:

Police Community Support Officers act as a key liaison point between local communities and policing. Publicly facing, they provide a visible, accessible and approachable uniformed presence in the community to offer reassurance, improve confidence and trust, gather information and promote good community relations. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Work will involve deployment at locations throughout the South Yorkshire Police area.
• Will be required to work a shift pattern and Saturday working.
• Work will involve performing duties outdoors and in all weather conditions
• Maintain a highly visible community presence in accordance with local area needs to address issues of public concern, act as a deterrent to local crime and improve community confidence.
• Develop personal, detailed, comprehensive, professional knowledge and understanding of the local community in which they operate, in order to identify and support those in their community affected by offending (victims and witnesses) and those who may be particularly vulnerable or at risk (including those at risk from radicalisation as outlined in the Prevent Strategy).
• Use appropriate communication methodologies for fostering, promoting and maintaining channels of communication e.g. social media and discussion forums.

• Support ongoing Police operations undertaking community-based activities as directed to gather, handle and submit information and intelligence, acting in line with legislation, policies and guidance, to support law enforcement.
• Support South Yorkshire Police in initial front-line response to incidents enabling resolution to and/or preventing escalation of low-level offending in line with their designated powers and remit.
• Develop close working relationships with key community contacts to gather and provide information, support the vulnerable, promote community cohesion, identify and tackle low-level issues such as anti-social behaviour.
• Develop effective relationships with individuals, including the vulnerable and at risk across the community, providing support and guidance to assess needs, prevent crime, respond to concerns and build trust in policing.
• Where appropriate, assist South Yorkshire Police to manage complex incidents, acting to contain, assess needs and/or provide support to ensure immediate public safety. 
• Maintain awareness of potential and actual risks to individuals, escalating potential threats to public safety in line with Force guidance to support the identification and resolution of issues.
• Support the identification and exploration of new ways of working and innovation in community policing, applying critical thinking to problems and issues within own area of responsibility to enhance efficiency and/or effectiveness.
• Support the implementation of evidence based policing initiatives by championing and applying relevant approaches to own area of work.
• Takes ownership of promoting and developing best practice within the PCSO role 
• Take personal responsibility and accountability for professional development.  Review own performance objectively and to take steps to maintain and enhance competence and professional standards appropriate to the role
• Apply personal safety tactics and the use of equipment where required
• Attend court and give witness testimony in relation to any incidents where they have personal knowledge or involvement.

Skills and experience:

Essential Criteria:

• Level 2 qualification in English and Maths or equivalent by the end of the apprenticeship programme
• Able to demonstrate alignment with the ethics and values of the police service.
• Previous experience of working with members of the public
• Verbal communication skills with the ability to listen to others, reason and defuse situations, particularly in potential confrontational circumstances
• Ability to work on own initiative with minimal supervision and the ability to plan and prioritise own work
• Ability to make decisions in tight timescales in an assertive and unbiased manner
• Team working skills demonstrating awareness of individual differences
• IT skills and experience of using systems and/or databases
• Must be flexible to work anywhere within South Yorkshire
• Must be available for training within specified dates as described on the advertisement

Desirable Criteria:

• Previous experience of working in confrontational situations
• Previous experience in a Customer Service environment

 For further information relating to the role and tasks of this position, please refer to the attached role profile.

Recruitment Event – Monday 3rd October 2022:

A Familiarisation event is being held at Niagara Conference Centre on the evening of Monday 3rd October. Here, you have the chance to find out more information about the role and the training programme. You will hear from representatives from the Recruitment and Training teams as well as from a current PCSO about what it’s like to do the role.

If you are interested in attending this event and hearing more about the role, please click on the link below to book yourself a place. 

https://hpandsyp.tal.net/vx/appcentre-syp_ext/brand-4/tmpwid-b81c_e56922b0-2518-4dd5-9970-2401c77891fd/candidate/so/pm/7/pl/17/opp/7152-Police-Community-Support-Officer-Recruitment-Event-03-10-22/en-GB

Benefits:

We offer generous entitlements and supportive policies to enable a better work-life balance, some of which are listed below:

• Generous annual leave allowance
• Flexible and hybrid working
• Generous ‘family’ leave
• Voluntary CPD Events for all staff to allow continuous development
• Mentoring & Coaching Scheme
• Paid Professional Subscriptions when relevant to role
• Access to a range of occupational health facilities
• Generous pension scheme
• Employee assistance service (accessible 24/7)
• Additional benefits for Westfield Health members
• Cycle to work scheme
• Sports and Social Club

Eligibility:

Qualifications - Candidates who currently hold a level 2 in Functionals Skills / English & Maths GCSE or equivalent will be asked to provide proof of this as part of the initial application stage. Candidates who do not currently hold this level of qualification will need to have secured Level 2 qualification in Functional Skills by the end point assessment stage of the apprenticeship programme. This will be completed alongside the apprenticeship programme.

Age - You must be 18 or over at the close of the initial registration. 

Residency - You must have resided in the UK for three continuous years immediately prior to application.  If you have been abroad during the last three years while serving in the UK Armed Forces or working for the UK Government your application will still be considered.

Citizenship - You must be either a British citizen, a citizen of the EU or other states in the EEA, or a Commonwealth citizen or foreign national with indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Cautions and Convictions - Convictions and cautions will not necessarily preclude you from becoming a police community support officer.  It will depend on the nature and circumstances of the offence.  Failure to disclose convictions or cautions will, however result in your application being terminated.

Financial Position - All applicants will have their financial status verified.  Checks are carried out because police community support officers have access to privileged and highly sensitive information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption.

Applicants with outstanding County Court judgements, or who have been registered bankrupt with outstanding debts, will be rejected.  If you have discharged bankruptcy debts then you will need to provide a Certificate of Satisfaction with your application.  At least three years will need to have passed since the date of discharge.

Health - Police community support officers may encounter difficult situations, trauma, physical confrontation and work long hours on shifts.  They need to be resilient enough to cope with the demands and pressures of police work. Applicants must be in good health mentally and physically to undertake the duties of the role.

You will undergo a medical examination to ensure that you meet the health standards required.

Tattoos & Piercings - The Force is currently reviewing the Appearance and Standards Policy, with particular focus to Tattoos.  All visible tattoos will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, pending consultation of the Policy review.  Until such time, please do not be discouraged from applying to the Force as any visible tattoos will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.  Any tattoo which could be deemed inappropriate, or cause offence will not be accepted.  If you have tattoos, you will need to make a declaration at the time of application.

Substance misuse & Biometric Testing - If you are currently using any illegal drugs this will automatically rule you out of the recruitment process.  On application, you must agree to have a drugs test, as well as having a DNA sample and fingerprints taken for the purpose of conducting a speculative search against the national database.

Membership to a Proscribed Terrorist Organisation or Group - The police service strictly prohibits any of their officers or staff from becoming members of organisations whose aims and objectives may contradict the duty to promote race equality.  If you are, or have been, a member of such an organisation you are not eligible to apply.

Annual Leave:

Please note that annual leave is heavily restricted during the training programme due to the nature of the course you will be completing. After the initial stage of the recruitment process, we will contact successful applicants and ask for details on any holidays you already have booked over the next 2 years. This will allow us to plan in your training and place you on a suitable course. There will be a series of fixed leave periods during the apprenticeship programme and we will confirm these will successful canddiates as soon as possible. 

South Yorkshire Police’s Key Values:

Please find attached information sheet on South Yorkshire Police’s Key Values. The force has a particular focus on three areas, Fairness, Integrity and Trust. Under each of these three headings there are key behaviours we expect all employees to adhere to.

Closing Date:

Sunday 16th October 2022 at 23:55

Closing dates are not normally extended, other than in exceptional circumstances and agreement is made between the Talent Acquisition Manager and the Line Manager for the role.

The Recruitment & Selection Process:

26th September 2022 – 16th October 2022: Application Stage. Following this all submitted applications will be shortlisted against the criteria for the role and all who pass this sifting stage will be invite to the next stage. At this stage we will also require proof of qualifications. 

4th November 2022– 9th November 2022: Proof Reading Exercise. This is an online assessment to test candidates’ ability to pick up spelling and grammar errors within a set piece of text under a timed scenario. Information will be sent prior to the launch of this second stage (on 31.10.22).

21st November 2022 – 2nd December 2022: Interview and Assessment Process

5th December 2022 – 24th February 2023: Pre-employment checks, including references, vetting, medical and Biometrics.

3rd April 2023 – Course start date

Application Guidance:

Please find attached the Application guidance document to assist you with the completion of the application form. Please note you will be shortlisted against the evidence provided in this form so it is important that you complete all fields and provide details evidence of how you meet the criteria for the role and also when you have demonstrated good Public Service and acting with Integrity.

Contact point for applicants:

For any questions on the particulars of the PCSO role, please contact Insp Louise Kent on louise.kent@southyorks.pnn.police.uk.  For any recruitment/eligibility questions please contact Recruiting@southyorks.pnn.police.uk

Case Study – PCSO Craig Holmes & PCSO Simon Griffiths

Please find attached case studies from two of our current PCSO’s. These will provide you with more information about the role and what it is like to work within South Yorkshire Police.

Diversity & Inclusion:

South Yorkshire Police welcomes applications from under-represented communities.  For further information on diversity and inclusion within South Yorkshire Police, please visit the diversity and inclusion page:

https://www.southyorkshire.police.uk/sign-up/join-team-syp/diversity-in-the-force/

If you are from an underrepresented group and want to find out more about the support we can offer, please contact our dedicated team on positiveaction@southyorks.pnn.police.uk

In addition, we will look to support anyone who requires Part Time/Job share working hours. However please note full time working will be required for the initial training phase.

Candidates working part time will have their apprenticeship programme length extended to allow suitable time for completion. 

Note to candidates:

Please note that, should you be successful at the interview stage, the relevant internal or external pre-employment checks are required.  These include vetting clearance or review, prior to being appointed to the new role and start date being agreed.

Apply for the role:

To apply for the role, please click the ‘Apply’ button.