THE head of local policing in south Worcestershire has confirmed that community support officers working in and around the city are specifically told not to issue fixed penalty notices.
Chief Inspector Jerry Reakes-Williams said CSOs are not trained to hand out tickets and are not even provided with fixed penalty notice books.
We reported in your Worcester News last month how in the last year the 60 CSOs working in the south Worcestershire division had not issued a single fixed penalty notice.
At the time south Worcestershire police simply said issuing tickets was not a “key aspect” of a CSOs role.
All CSOs have the power to hand out on-the-spot fines for incidents such as littering, dog fouling, or anti-social behaviour but each police force can decide how their CSOs operate.
Ch Insp Reakes-Williams said CSOs in south Worcestershire are trained not to be confrontational with people and he does not believe issuing tickets is the most effective way of preventing crime and anti-social behaviour.
Ch Insp Reakes-Williams said: “We are not giving our CSOs specific training on issuing fixed penalty notices and we do not issue them with fixed penalty notice books because it is not something we want them to do.
“We want them to be involved in building bridges in the community, providing reassurance and having a good understanding of what is going on in the community. By knowing who is doing what they can then pass on good information and intelligence.”
Ch Insp Reakes-Williams said CSOs in south Worcestershire may be required to start issuing fixed penalty notices if they feel it will be the most effective way of dealing with certain problems.
In the meantime all other police officers working in the area have the training and authority to issue fixed penalty notices.
“Where enforcement is necessary and appropriate, local policing officers and all police officers have the training and authority to issue tickets. If we have particular issues arising in particular areas and we think it is appropriate for CSOs to start issuing tickets as an effective way of dealing with those issues, it is a tool which we can then choose to use,” said Ch Insp Reakes-Williams.
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