Police Inspector Umer Khan - The Special Constabulary

Members of The Special Constabulary with Inspector Umer Kham (second left)

The Special Constabulary is the voluntary part of our police service. For decades citizens have joined the ranks of Specials to gain an insight into Policing and also to give something back to their communities.

A Special Constable is expected to give few hours a month towards the role. Officers receive training and support and undergo an attestation ceremony where they take the oath. They do not get paid, but receive general out of pocket expenses.

Last week, there was a debate on Radio 4 about the role of the Special Constabulary, with some suggestions that officers weren’t readily incorporated and accepted into the policing family. Although I can’t speak for the national situation, I am able to provide an insight into the work of the Specials at Rochdale.

Having had the privilege to work with most of the Specials over the past year I have come to learn they are truly committed, dedicated and selfless individuals, as after all not many people can give up their valuable time for the service of their community.

Since January 2013 these officers have paraded on at Rochdale DHQ for over 1,000 tour of duties, completing over 6,800 hours, effecting around 42 arrests and assisting in 119 others. They have executed 11 drugs warrants, seized five vehicles, attended over 500 grade 1 emergency incidents and responded to countless other non emergency calls. Officers have provided witness testimonies in around 18 cases. A truly remarkable contribution.

Special Inspector David Geeson, Special Sergeant Charla Devereux, Temp/Special Sergeant Nicholas Andrews, Special Constable’s Tuseef Ahmed, Alex Dyson, Linzi Allen, Hannah Taala, Anthony Conroy, Wassim Othman and Kyle Williams are all officers I regularly see at the station. Their support is welcomed and appreciated and is invaluable to our day-to-day policing activities. In fact, these officers are now part of what our teams calls ‘The Special Task Force’ as they assist us in addressing some of the long term issues.

The Rochdale Specials Team regularly respond to requests to assist with unexpected emergencies, such as helping to manage a scene for days ,at Hollingworth Lake, a few months ago. The team turns out for civic events such as the Remembrance Sunday Parades. Every weekend members of the team will turn out on busy Friday and Saturday night and assist with initiatives in the Town Centre and engage in high visibility patrols in burglary hotspot areas.

Although many of their achievements are very much a team effort, it would be remiss of me not to highlight couple of outstanding individual efforts.

Special Sergeant Charla Devereux is the conduit for much of the good work that the Specials undertake on our team. She has completed over 280 hours as a Special Sergeant contributing to arrests, warrants, taking statements and much more. She is responsible for managing the Specials on the Rochdale North Team. She is a dedicated individual despite having a demanding full time day job. She regularly checks in to find out what is happening and liaises with other supervisors and procure officers for specific events. She is a fantastic communicator and always somehow manages to secure a good turnout. I recall during the Easter weekend when it was extremely busy, she organised a team of Special Officers to come on during the evening period and provide excellent support to the frontline officers. I received couple of emails from officers around the station, showing their appreciation for the efforts of the Specials. A great deal of that praise should go to Special Sergeant Charla Devereux for her organisation, planning and leadership for putting together this initiative.

Then there is Special Constable Tauseef Ahmed, who again has full time job in a corporate bank. He has really excelled over the past year demonstrating his commitment to the cause, by devoting over 500 hours of voluntary time to policing. This is not to mention the few hours when he was off duty, shopping at his local supermarket when he observed three males steal items, he showed true bravery when he confronted these males and called for the Police. Despite receiving a great deal of personal abuse and threats from these males, he stood his ground and was able to identify them to officers leading to their arrest. Actions any officer would be proud off. He is valued and much liked member of the team.

Then there is Special Constable Hannah Taala, who during the day works at a reputable food restaurant and then at night she serves up hot justice to those who break the law. Recently she was out in the Town Centre when she observed a Public Order incident; she attended the incident and assisted in calming the situation and then arresting one person who continued to break the law. Only last week she had to attend court to give evidence. Now any officer will say that attending court is one of the most daunting experiences, Special Constable Hannah was able to take it in her stride and was able to secure a conviction.

Over the past year a number of other Special Constables have progressed to join the regulars and some of current officers are also looking to follow their footsteps, we wish them the very best.

I wanted to share the good work of the Rochdale Specials for number of reasons, first to show despite what is being said nationally, the Specials Officers at Rochdale are very much an important part of our policing team. Their significant contributions have made Rochdale North one of the most effective neighbourhood teams across the GMP.

Furthermore, the principles of the Special Constabulary very much link in to the very essence of British Policing, for the community, from the community, then as citizens we all should be proud of these amazing citizens, ordinary individuals doing extra-ordinary job as Special Constables, by day earning their livelihood and by evening, they make so many personal sacrifices to join the thin blue line, doing everything they can to serve and protect their local community. We should all applaud their valour, bravery and the selfless dedication to upholding the law and serving the good citizens of our Borough.

Finally, as some of the existing Specials officers will move onto join the regulars, I sincerely hope others from the community will be looking to take up their places.

To find out more about the Specials and other careers in GMP, please check out the recruitment section on our website www.gmp.police.uk

Inspector Umer Khan
GMP Rochdale North