Glenn Goodman - Same Risks Same RespectI've served in the regular army and obviously as a full time police officer. Both of these institutions have a reserve in the form of the Territorial Army and the Special Constabulary. I always saw the TA as week-end warriors who came out on exercise to Germany occasionally, bolstering our own units. My brother in law has a chest full of medals from his part time role and somehow the TA has become vital in National Defence. In fact I doubt if the army would have been as effective without those individuals and some on the reserve list the past few years. They have provided a cost effective way out for the government who have looked to save money by merging long established units.
I think we might be beginning to see the same with policing. The Special Constabulary were always used mainly at week-ends to help out on local community events, but now they are an important resource thrown into the line. You can see the attractiveness to the policy makers as these volunteers get paid the grand sum of nothing.
You won't find me slagging off our unpaid volunteers as I've been mightily relieved to see our Divisional reserve arrive on a Friday night in strength just before chucking out time. An extra team of 10 constables with a massive specials sergeant patrolling along a length of road 200 yards and still fights were kicking off. I was actually rather embarrassed that when they made arrests we had none of our own PC's to help them out with the paperwork. Many don't need the help as they already work for us as civil staff and the "Job" sorts them a couple of days to balance out their uniformed commitment. Somebody has been rather clever, because if a really serious emergency and I mean National Proportions takes place our police staff can be deployed in a back up role. The others come from a range of other occupations.
There is a lot more training being put into our specials to bring them up to a higher standard. I must say they are good and I'm impressed. Moves are taking place to align them to individual response teams and it is stressed this is in addition to the minimum strengths. Funny how this announcement coincided with the strength being cut again. I do hope the goodwill of our special colleagues is not abused. If the government wants to increase reliance on the police reserve they should at least ensure a tax-free bounty payment system is brought in once sufficient volunteer hours are reached.
I'm not sure where they stand if they get injured on duty. I was very fortunate to attend a talk given by ex PC Sandy Kelly who was with Special Constable Glenn Goodman when he was shot by IRA terrorists after a routine traffic stop in Yorkshire 1992. A great talk by an officer who suffered from PTSD and had to medically retire. He did these talks to aid his recovery and it was very humbling. He blamed himself for not protecting his volunteer operator despite being nearly killed himself and badly injured, and that's what the Specials are, colleagues who wear the same uniform.
It is National Specials Weekend
I think we might be beginning to see the same with policing. The Special Constabulary were always used mainly at week-ends to help out on local community events, but now they are an important resource thrown into the line. You can see the attractiveness to the policy makers as these volunteers get paid the grand sum of nothing.
You won't find me slagging off our unpaid volunteers as I've been mightily relieved to see our Divisional reserve arrive on a Friday night in strength just before chucking out time. An extra team of 10 constables with a massive specials sergeant patrolling along a length of road 200 yards and still fights were kicking off. I was actually rather embarrassed that when they made arrests we had none of our own PC's to help them out with the paperwork. Many don't need the help as they already work for us as civil staff and the "Job" sorts them a couple of days to balance out their uniformed commitment. Somebody has been rather clever, because if a really serious emergency and I mean National Proportions takes place our police staff can be deployed in a back up role. The others come from a range of other occupations.
There is a lot more training being put into our specials to bring them up to a higher standard. I must say they are good and I'm impressed. Moves are taking place to align them to individual response teams and it is stressed this is in addition to the minimum strengths. Funny how this announcement coincided with the strength being cut again. I do hope the goodwill of our special colleagues is not abused. If the government wants to increase reliance on the police reserve they should at least ensure a tax-free bounty payment system is brought in once sufficient volunteer hours are reached.
I'm not sure where they stand if they get injured on duty. I was very fortunate to attend a talk given by ex PC Sandy Kelly who was with Special Constable Glenn Goodman when he was shot by IRA terrorists after a routine traffic stop in Yorkshire 1992. A great talk by an officer who suffered from PTSD and had to medically retire. He did these talks to aid his recovery and it was very humbling. He blamed himself for not protecting his volunteer operator despite being nearly killed himself and badly injured, and that's what the Specials are, colleagues who wear the same uniform.
It is National Specials Weekend
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