A survey of the allocation and use of community constables in England and Wales

The paper presents the findings of a national survey of the allocation and use of community constables among police forces in England and Wales. The methods used involved distributing a selfadministered questionnaire to a sample of permanent beat officers and general duty officers in thirtynine of the forty-three forces. The research found that the proportion of all uniform patrol officers allocated to beat duties varied widely among police force areas, ranging from over 50 per cent to fewer than 10 per cent. Community constables were less frequently female and more frequently aged over 30 years than general duty officers. Beat officers spent about 20 per cent of their working time withdrawn from beat duties to conduct other unrelated duties. Overall, beat officers were generally satisfied with their job and believed that community constable work was important. Forces in which beat officers reported that they were relatively less satisfied with their job tended to be those forces in which general duty officers also reported that they were relatively less satisfied with their job. The paper concludes by drawing attention to some of the features of the use of community constables which are of current concern and which might generate problems in the future.