Police workforce and representative institutions Powers of police civilian staff and volunteers
The office of constable sits at the heart of policing in England and Wales, and their powers are defined across a wide range of Acts and at common law.
	Since the passage of the Special Constables Act 1831, it has been possible to vest the full powers of a constable on volunteers serving with the police. The Road Traffic and Roads Improvement Act 1960 introduced Traffic Wardens with certain road traffic-related policing powers and Part 4 of the 2002 Act conferred on chief officers of police the power to designate a member of police staff as a Police Community Support Officer ("PCSO"), investigating officer, detention officer or escort officer, each with a range of specified policing powers appropriate to their role. In the case of PCSOs, these powers include the power to request the name and address from a person acting in an anti-social manner, certain specified powers to search and seize, and powers to issue fixed penalty notices for a list of specified offences. The role of PCSOs in local policing is now well established. See annex F for further details of the powers associated with each of these roles.
	Under the 2002 Act, a chief officer of police may designate a member of police staff as a PCSO, investigating officer, detention officer or escort officer, as the case may be, if satisfied that the individual is: a) suitable to carry out the role; b) capable of effectively carrying out the role; and c) has received adequate training. An individual may be designated in more than one role – for example, staff can be designated as both a detention officer and an escort officer to give greater flexibility in managing detained persons. For each role, chief officers have the discretion to confer on a designated member of staff the mix of powers, taken from a specified list of powers, appropriate to the individual’s particular role and training although, in the case of PCSOs, there is a set of standard powers which form a minimum core appropriate to the role.
	Police staff without such designation have no powers.
	There are two main types of volunteer in policing: special constables, who have the full range of police powers and the attendant training requirement and Police Support Volunteers, who undertake support functions such as staffing an enquiry desk and have no powers.
	The current position of staff and volunteers is summarised in the table below:
Full powers
Some powers
No powers
Paid, full-time or part-time
Police Officer
Designated Staff (that is, PCSO, Investigating Officer, Detention Officer, Escort Officer)
Other Police Staff
Unpaid, part-time
Special Constable
No Current Role
Police Support Volunteers
	The College of Policing’s Leadership Review, published in June 2015, recommended that there should be increased flexibility in assigning powers and legal authority to staff. On 9 September 2015 the Home Secretary announced (House of Commons, Official Report, columns 12WS to 14WS) the launch of a consultation, Reforming the Powers of Police Staff and Volunteers, seeking views on proposals to:
	Abolish the concept of standard powers for PCSOs and enable each chief officer to designate their staff with only those powers they consider necessary in their force areas;
	Set out the core powers that should be reserved only for constables (with a power to amend this list by order);
	Allow police volunteers to be designated in the same manner as police staff; and
	Enable chief officers to designate PCSOs directly with the necessary traffic powers, rather than additionally designate them as traffic wardens, and abolish the role of traffic warden under the Road Traffic Act 1988.
	The Home Secretary announced the outcome of the consultation on 20 January 2016 (House of Commons, Official Report, HCWS478). Sections 38 to 46 and Schedules 12 and 13 give effect to these proposals.