MORE than nine out of ten members of the Special Constabulary in England and Wales would like to join the Police Federation, according to the results of a survey.<\/p>\n
Some 2,517 specials took part in a Fed survey with 2,356 answering \u2018yes\u2019 to the question \u2018if given the opportunity, would you choose to a become a member of the Police Federation of England and Wales?\u2019<\/p>\n
The matter will now go to the Fed conference in May.<\/p>\n
There are currently just under 20,000 police specials in England and Wales. Mark Smith, chairman of Essex Police Federation, said he thought they would be \u201cwelcomed\u201d into the Federation.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThey are being used more and more as frontline officers\u2026let\u2019s give them the same protection we give front line officers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Any move to allow specials to join the Federation would first need a change in legislation, Andy Fittes, chairman of the Fed\u2019s Special Constabulary Working Group said.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe working group will now start developing a motion to conference (in 2014) asking the Federation to accept specials as members.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also need to present to the Home Office a plan for how this work. I also hope to hold some discussion forums with the existing membership to answer any questions they may have.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the rapidly changing expectations of police specials we felt that now was the right time to ask them how they wanted to be represented in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The survey ran from September 9 to November 6. Nine out of ten of those who answered \u2018yes\u2019 said they wanted to join the Federation so they could receive benefits such as legal representation for complaints, personal injury and health and safety as well as access to discount schemes.<\/p>\n
Those who did not want to join the Federation cited reasons such as the cost of membership, concerns over the effectiveness of the organisation and recent negative publicity.<\/p>\n
Ninety-one per cent of respondents said they would be more likely to join the Federation if they were offered a discounted subscription fee.<\/p>\n
Just over 150 specials taking part in the survey, which ran for two months before closing on November 6, said they had already received support from the Federation during their time as a special.<\/p>\n
Most of those had received assistance following a complaint while others were given advice on bullying issues or personal injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"