Police Community Support Officer (Pcso)

The starting salary is £28,290 with annual increments up to a maximum of £32,802.

Do you want to help people and make a real difference to the communities of Kent?

As a PCSO you will work closely with communities to promote community safety and confidence. Working alongside police officers, special constables and partner agencies you will seek information and intelligence around criminal activity and/or vulnerability in the communities you serve.

Your 37-hour working week will include variable shifts that could span any time between 7am and 11pm, any day of the week.

About you

You will be passionate about helping communities and have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. You will need to be good at problem solving with the ability to develop an innovative approach to solutions.

You will be required to work as part of a team and have the confidence to work alone when needed. Having excellent communication skills will help to build positive relationships and provide reassurance for the communities you support.

Personal characteristics

You must be able to answer 'Yes' to the following statements:

• I am a British Citizen, member of the EC or other states in the European Economic Area. If you are a Commonwealth Citizen or a foreign national, you must be resident in the UK free from restrictions and with indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• I have lived in the UK continuously for the last three years. This does not apply to those serving abroad with the British Armed Forces or conducting government work
• I am 17 years old or older at the point of application. If you are 17, you can go through the recruitment and selection process, but will not receive an offer of employment until you have turned 18
• I have a full UK category B manual driving licence
• I don't have any tattoos or piercings which cause offence, are excessive or deemed unprofessional
• I am not registered bankrupt or subject to CCJs. If you have an IVA, we consider your application on a case by case basis
• Any previous criminal convictions or cautions (including spent convictions), fixed penalty notices, traffic offences or any involvement with the police must be declared and they may affect your application

Education, skills and experience

No formal qualifications are necessary; however you will be required to undertake an assessment and interview to determine your suitability to perform the role.

Where will I be based?

You will be asked on your application form to state your preferred location to work. You will be appointed to a location based on organisational need. We will consider your preferences, but there is no guarantee of your preferred location being offered. Therefore, you must be willing to accept a role at any of the following locations.

• Ashford
• Maidstone
• Medway
• Northfleet
• Sittingbourne
• Swanley

Which PSCO role is right for you?

During the recruitment process, you will be asked to select your preferred PCSO role from the following options:

Child Centred Policing Team PCSO

• establish meaningful two-way communication with young people in the community to understand what matters to them, working to resolve the issues identified
• create close and effective working relationships with educational establishments, partner agencies and internal colleagues to build trust, maximise early intervention opportunities, increase safety, reduce the fear of crime and victimisation, and disrupt criminal activity
• identify vulnerability and risk amongst children and young people through intelligence gathering, information sharing, positive relationship building and multi-agency problem solving, to prevent youth crime and victimisation

Neighbourhood Task Force PCSO

• undertake meaningful two-way communication with the local community to understand what matters to them, working to resolve the issues identified
• employ the full range of powers to effectively target repetitive problems by focussing on victims, locations, and offenders
• provide a visible, flexible, and local resource, focussing on crime types causing harm and delivering evidence-based solutions to improve public trust, build community confidence, reduce offending, anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime

Rural Task Force PCSO

• proactively work to establish meaningful two-way communication with the rural community to understand what matters to them, working to resolve the issues identified
• work closely with partner agencies, stakeholders, government, and non- government organisations and provide a point of contact for victims of rural, wildlife, environmental, and heritage crime, contributing directly to force plans and strategies.

You will also be asked to select your preferred role on your application form.

Health

You will need to be resilient to cope with the demands and pressures of the role so applicants should be in good health both mentally and physically.

You will undergo a medical examination to ensure you meet the health standards required.

Further information about the required medical standards including eyesight can be found on our website - PCSO medical standards | Kent Police.

Fitness

A fitness test is required to be undertaken as part of the recruitment process. Further details will be provided by the Recruitment Team once we receive your application.

Tattoos and piercings

If you have a tattoo, you'll be asked to provide a brief and accurate description and two digital colour photos of each tattoo:

• a distance photograph to clearly identify where on your body the tattoo is
• a close-up photograph which clearly identifies the images in the tattoo

Each photograph should not be more than 1MB in size. All applications will be assessed on an individual basis with issues such as size, nature, prominence, and military context/references taken into consideration.

Tattoos which could reasonably be interpreted as discriminatory or offensive and/or indicate attitudes or views inconsistent with the College of Policing’s Code of Ethics and the Standards of Professional Behaviour will always be deemed unacceptable and will prevent you from being able to join us.

Whilst not exhaustive, we have the following guiding principles:

• visible tattoos of weapons (such as images of knives, firearms etc) are unlikely to be acceptable
• visible tattoos depicting controlled drugs (such as cannabis leaves, spliffs etc) are unlikely to be acceptable
• visible tattoos depicting violence, suffering or death are unlikely to be acceptable (simple images of skulls will not usually fall within this category)
• visible tattoos in the style of ‘el dia de los muertos’ (The Day of the Dead) are unlikely to be acceptable if they fall in to one of the above categories, however not all tattoos in this style will necessarily be unacceptable (examples of unacceptable tattoos in this style would include women with their lips stitched together and images of decomposing features)
• visible tattoos which indicate political support are unlikely to be acceptable
• visible tattoos which are sexually explicit or depict nudity are unlikely to be acceptable
• tattoos on the hands, face and neck will only be approved by exception
• a higher tolerance threshold will be applied to tattoos which are not visible in standard uniform dress, however tattoos which are considered incompatible with Kent Police values will still not be acceptable

Body piercings

If you have a body piercing or other body modification you may be considered eligible to apply.

We'll check it to make sure it doesn't breach the Standard of Professional Behaviour for serving police officers or constitute a risk to health and safety.

Vetting

Ideally, you shouldn't have a criminal conviction or cautions record. If you do have one, eligibility will depend on the age and nature of the offence.

We're unable to confirm whether your convictions record will affect your application before you apply, but will determine this from information provided during the recruitment and selection process.

If you don't tell us about any cautions, investigations or criminal convictions, your application could be refused.

If in any doubt, disclose the information.

For more information please view our vetting guidance - www.kent.police.uk/vetting

Financial position

It's important that you're not under pressure from un-discharged debts or liabilities and that you can manage loans and debts sensibly.

You will not qualify for vetting clearance if you:

• have existing county court judgments (CCJs) outstanding
• have been registered bankrupt and have not discharged your bankruptcy. You will not be considered until three years after the discharge of the debt. Debt Relief Orders (DRO) are treated in the same way as bankruptcy
• if you refuse to discuss a relevant matter or engage with the vetting process

For more information please view the vetting guidance - www.kent.police.uk/vetting

Training

You will be comprehensively supported during your training and development, this will include the completion of a development portfolio which demonstrates your competency as a PCSO.

Your training will start with an eight-week course at Kent Police College in Maidstone, followed by local training at the police station where you'll be based.

Before you go out on patrol on your own you will spend some time with officers who will also support you, offering advice and guidance during the transition between the classroom and the workplace.

Help and support

If you have any questions about the recruitment process or wish to understand the application support available to you, please contact the recruitment team:

• email: recruitment@ecis.police.uk
• call: 01622 653070

Assessments will be held weekly.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £28,290.00-£32,802.00 per year

Benefits:

• Additional leave
• Canteen
• Company events
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee discount
• Financial planning services
• Free flu jabs
• Free parking
• Health & wellbeing programme
• Life insurance
• On-site gym
• On-site parking
• Sick pay
• Store discount

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Holidays
• Night shift

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Medway: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Work Location: In person

Reference ID: PCSO