Community Support Officers?

Question

Can anyone please tell me what status in Law and what powers of arrest or detention does a CSO actually have? There seems to be so much spin and miss information about them that I don’t know who to believe.

Please only answer if you have FACT, not rumour or gossip.

Thanks

JB

My thanks to both of you.
To be more specific the powers to detain are the same as any private citizen. There is no special Act of Parliament to cover CSO powers?

Answer 1

Community Support Officers
The role

Community Support Officers (CSOs) provide a visible presence in the community, helping the police to tackle anti-social behaviour and offering reassurance to the public. Become a CSO and you will act as the eyes and ears on the streets.

You will be in uniform and under the direction of a police Commander responding to crime and disorder issues. Here are just some of the issues you may deal with in your work:

support for the police in increasing public safety
contributing to the regeneration of local communities
dealing with truants, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, litter, missing persons enquiries
helping to support victims
assisting with house to house enquiries
involvement in patrolling major public events and ceremonials
helping to control crowds
protecting the public from security threats

Additional responsibility

Depending on your role, you may also be given police powers, including:

the power to detain someone pending the arrival of a constable
the power to direct traffic and remove vehicles
the power to issue fixed penalty notices in relation to a range of anti-social behaviours

Answer 2

They dont have the same full power of arrest as do police officers, but same as civilian arrest.

"The powers a PCSO can have at present are:

* Issue Fixed Penalty Notices for public nuisance, dog fouling, littering, and cycling on footpaths.
* Request a person's name and address for certain minor offences.
* Detain a person for up to 30 minutes, until the arrival of a Police Constable to arrest the individual, and use reasonable force to prevent them escaping, possibly involving the use of handcuffs. The person may elect to accompany the PCSO to the Police Station instead of waiting.
* Seize alcohol and tobacco from people under the legal age to be consuming those products.
* Request a person to stop drinking alcohol in designated public areas, and seize the containers, whether open or closed.
* Enter property to save life, prevent injury, or prevent serious damage to property.
* Seize vehicles used to cause alarm and distress.
* Remove abandoned vehicles, or require them to be removed.
* Stop vehicles for the purpose of a road check or for exhaust emissions testing.
* Regulate traffic for the purpose of escorting abnormal loads.
* Establish, maintain and enforce a cordoned area established under section 33 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
* Stop and search pedestrians, vehicles and items carried by driver and passengers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
* Stop and search persons under the respective legal ages for alcohol and tobacco.
* Search any person who they have detained for articles that could be used to escape.
* Seize and retain any prohibited articles ie drugs or weapons they find during the course of any of the above searches.
* They also have full any-person powers of arrest and can arrest anyone without warrant if they know they have committed an indictable offence, as can any other private citizen. Individual force guidelines, however, may instruct them not to utilise this power."

Answer 3

All the above is correct... further to that though, it depends on the individual Chief Constable which of those powers he or she decides to empower their PCSOs with. Most don't have the power to detain for every offence at present, but as previously mentioned, they do have the same powers of arrest that any member of public has.

Answer 4

This site may also help you:-

http://www.pcsos-national.co.uk/