One in four special constables does not show up for the job, a report has found.
A review of the 3,659 volunteer officers at the Metropolitan police, Britain’s biggest force, showed that many failed to comply with standards. Last year more than half the officers failed to complete the required 16 hours a month, and one in three performed fewer than eight hours a month. In the last three months of 2015, just over a quarter of the Met’s special constables completed zero hours.
The figures will raise alarm bells at the Home Office, which plans to bolster police forces with volunteers.
Commander Lucy D’Orsi’s review of Met special constables found that one in ten left the force “without completing any duty hours”. While specials must hand in their warrant card and uniform if they do not complete the required hours, the report found that this was not happening.
The report said that Met specials lived as far away as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall, and 20 per cent lived outside London.
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Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation, said that while he supported the concept of special constables, who have powers of arrest, the report showed that volunteers should be used to “enhance, not replace policing”.