Whats the difference between community police officers and proper police officers?

Community Officers are NOT certified law enforcement officers and do not receive the intense training and ongoing training that certified officers must complete. Police Officers receive their certification via the individual state's Law Enforcement Certification authority/agency. Community Officers are also UNARMED.

IMPORTANT: Community Officers should NOT be confused with Community POLICE Officers as described by the Department of Justice and various state and local agencies. Community Officers and Community Police Officers are two completely separate entities in that Community Police Officers are certified law enforcement officers and Community Officers are not.

Community Officers are there to support the certified police officers in secondary, non-hazardous duties such as directing traffic, completing follow-up paperwork, serving as cross guards at school crossings, etc. This frees up more certified officers for law enforcement functions. It is cost effective because Community Officers do not receive the same pay as certified officers.

Some communities also use Civilian Officers which are volunteers. They, too, can perform the same functions as a Community Officer. Both Community Officers and Civilian Officers serve much like a neighborhood watch on wheels and increase the presence of police-related vehicles.

Although they do not have the authority to pull you over and arrest you, they are equipped with all communication devices necessary to have a situation investigated, someone stopped, arrested, etc. If they do witness a violation of the law, they will await the arrival of a certified police officer and then the Community Officer will actually place the violator(s) under arrest. They usually also have the authority to issue parking violation citations.

A lot of the time, "Community Police" refers to "Reserve" or "Auxillary Police" It differs among departments and citys, but some times they are actually police officers (commissioned - meaning they have taken the "Peace officer academy test") or they are uncommisioned and act on the authority by proxy of police officers. It can be confusing, there really are no clear laws on what uncommissioned reserves can do in most states. I mean theoretically, a cop and stop a citizen, most likely if they are armed, and ask them to assist, either with apprehending someone or borrowing their car! :)

To recap..

Reserve, Auxillary, and Community Police refers to the same people. Some are commisioned, meaning they are police officers and can make arrests and perform any action that police officers can do in that municipality, county, state or federal region. Commisions make you a police officer, however; Uncommisioned Reserves in most cases are recognised as police officers, they just have limitations, and usually do not carry firearms. As I said, every department has their own rules and regulations. Call your local police department and ask them if they commision their reserves or if they are uncommisioned volunteers.

Cities will employee commisioned reserves usually on a volunteer basis, sometimes they get paid for events (Parades, traffic, radar, etc..) but they are mostly volunteers. The only major difference between commisioned reserves and uncommisioned reserves is the power of arrest.

So there you go. I am a commisioned reserve (will soon be :))

It is a way for cities to gain the extra patrol and extra manpower to be able to operate within a budget, it also gives people the ability to be cops, very part time. Most departments only require 8 - 16 hours a month to retain their commision / job, and pay for all academy / training costs.

P.S.

Commisioned Reserve Police Officers are Police Officers, they carry Hand guns, possibly tazers, OC (Mace), hand cuffs and the whole shooting match. They can arrest, ticket, serve warrants and pretty much anything else.

-Rick

Singapore and Malaysia are Asian countries; that is how both countries differ from the US and Canada. While both countries are quite modernized, they still retain some of their Asian values, customs and culture. The laws here are generally stricter, so try not to get on the wrong side of the law. People here tend to keep to themselves most of the times, however that doesn't really mean they are unfriendly. Both countries are also somewhat safer than the US; Singapore is more safer than Malaysia though (just stating a fact here). Singapore and Malaysia are two separate countries, with very different political views and lifestyles. Singaporeans are mostly English educated, so if you are coming from an English speaking country, you would not face a language problem. Malaysia is mostly Malay speaking, however they can converse well in English as well. Singapore is a small city state, so expect to see lots of buildings and skyscrapers. But owing to the size, you can get to just about any place in less than an hour or so. Malaysia on the other hand is bigger, and getting from one state to another may take several hours, even half a day; if you wish to cut down on travel time, you can always take the domestic flights to the various states (airasia, firefly, etc). Also exercise some caution while in crowded places, like KL and JB because crime rates are higher there, and also crowded night spots in Singapore. On a lighter note, put your worries aside and just come to Singapore and Malaysia and discover them for yourself. People have lived here for a long time and not all of us have had any serious problems, it's really not that bad. Good luck! =)

Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are there to walk the beat, and be a presence to the public. They have no powers of arrest (except civilian power of arrest like the rest of us) and only have BASIC training in self-defence. If you were burgled, instead of sending out 2 or 3 Police Officers to your home, you're more likely to see ONE police officer, and a PCSO.

The idea is that a PCSO can do all the "smaller" "pettier" jobs like attending to a burglary to take a statement, thereby leaving actual police officers more free time to do "real" police work.

PCSOs get paid about £17-18k/year

Police Officers start on about £20k/year but this goes up to about £22k(ish) once they've completed their probationary period.

Hope that answers your question?

Community Police Support Officers, are not fully qualified police officers and have no powers of arrest.

Let's make this one clear. Here in UK there is no such thing as citizens arrest. Take my advice, don't even raise a finger against a villain. He will have a better lawyer than you and he will screw you for assault if you so much as blink.

The only people with the power of arrest here in UK are the police - for example, qualified and on-duty police officers of such as the Metropolitan Police or any other recognised police force.

Security guards do have the right to ask you to return to a store if they think you have walked off with goods before paying for same. However, they do not have the right to grab hold of you and frog march you about. If such happens, sue them - you will win, because the whole thing will be on cctv. In any case the judge will probably be a liberal who will pat you on the wrist and talk about naughty security guards and horrid nightclub bouncers and so forth.

As other people have said. It is a question as far as what they are called.

Community Police Officers: Are police officers that are good with dealing with people. They go out to meet and greet business owners and leaders of the churches and schools, and get information and share ideas with them, in order to see what is being done, and what can be done better. They also are regular cops, but they work this particular detail.

Depending on where you are, they may have other Community Officers that dont carry weapons, dont have actualy arrest powers, but they help out at events like the county fair, or concerts. Basically, they are eyes and ears, and maybe a little extra muscle, but thats about it. They sometimes receive a little stipend, but not a regular paycheck.

According to the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, "community policing is a policing philosophy that promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and police-community partnerships."

The USDOJ COPS website views this as a three-part strategy.

1. Enforcement of Laws

2. Proactive, Crime Prevention Oriented

3. Problem-solving

In the United States, "community" police officers are usually "regular" police officers that are assigned to work within the community on specific patrols with the goal of deterring and prevening crimes before they happen, rather than investigating crimes after they happen.

Many officers like the idea of community policing because it allows them to talk with people in their neighborhoods and work a specific area, instead of responding to calls for service city wide.

They are not "like" police officers -- they are police officers who work in a specific division with a special mission, like detectives, traffic officers, or court security officers, and have the same training requirements and pay scale.

Usually, community police officers require more training than patrol officers, because they have to have interpersonal communication skills and be able to be culturally sensitive to their patrol area. This often means learning secondary languages.

Nearly every department in the United States has some community policing policy, because it is a requirement to apply for federal funding and grants from the Department of Justice, which illustrates how important community policing has become.

They deal with more 'petty crime' types of thing like anti social behaviour. They don't have powers of arrest but I think they will have soon as the government are changing it. I think they have the authority to move on groups of youths, that sort of thing.

And I think it's a way into the proper police as well, they fast track them.

Our local ones are police officers only they are better communicators...

Firstly you need to be clear whether you are talking about UK officers. If you, are then "proper" police officers are warranted sworn Constables, with full police powers. Police Community Support Officers are a fairly new invention. Depending which English or Welsh County you live in they have differing powers. They do not have police powers of arrest, but some Chief Constables do permit them to detain offenders for up to half hour until Police Officers arrive. They tend to deal with local community issues such as anti social behaviour and quality of life issues. The Metropolitan Police PCSO's get paid quite well, but obviously not as much as regular officers. Sometimes, if people fail the grade to be a regular officer, they are invited to become PCSO's. or Special Constables.

And if you're not talking about UK officers - then I've wasted my time !!! LOL.