North Yorkshire police recruiting more volunteer officers

There are currently around 70 "specials" at the force

Author: Kathy GreenPublished 31st Jul 2023

A recruitment drive is underway at North Yorkshire police for volunteer officers.

There are currently about 70 "specials" at the force - with many people doing it as a way to give back to their community.

They do the same training and have the same powers as a normal officer - but it is an unpaid role.

24 year old Josh Hill is part of the roads unit: "We're the same as regular police officers, we have the same powers, the same uniform, the same equipment we just don't get paid and we do it in our spare time. I've always had a keen interest in the police but never really had the commitment to do it as a job alongside my current work commitments, so it's been the bets of both worlds and a good way to give back to my community."

"I've been able to give back to my community"

"We have the same sort of training to the same level as normal police officers, it's just spread out a little bit more to accommodate to our normal lives, we have to do a minimum of two years on response policing so going in to your normal 999 calls, after my initial two years I then was very fortunate to get the opportunity to specialise into roads policing."

"We go to jobs that sometimes are the worst days in people's lives or it's somewhere we can give a bit of an impact and give something and do something quite meaningful."

"I love it because I've always had a special interest in the police, but with my day job, I've never had the commitment to join full time, so it's been the bets of both worlds and I've been able to give back to my community at the same time."

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