POLICE and Crime Commissioner David Keane is saying a huge thank you to all the volunteers that have continued to support the work of Cheshire police and his office during the Covid-19 outbreak and throughout the last year.
PCC Keane is recognising and celebrating the work of the dedicated volunteers during Volunteers Week (1-7 June 2020).
This includes the work of the Special Constabulary with specially trained volunteer police officers dedicating more than 5,000 hours to policing since Friday 17 April. They have been enhancing the work of the Constabulary during the pandemic and have been working on Operation Business, which has seen them visit a total of 968 business premises and drop more than 3,750 leaflets.
Although it is not safe for them to visit in person, Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs), who support the Commissioner’s office, have continued in their role to check on the welfare of detainees in custody by using the telephone. Detainees are offered a private phone call with an ICV to check they have everything they need whilst in custody.
ICVs have been speaking to around 10-12 detainees each week with reports sent back to the Commissioner to ensure they are being treated correctly.
Call Audit volunteers, who undertake an audit of randomly selected emergency and non-emergency calls received by the Constabulary’s Force Control Centre to ensure that the demands and expectations of the public are met, are also continuing their role. Next week they will meet virtually to review a random selection of Covid-19 and anti-social behaviour related calls. The audit will be recorded electronically and reviewed by the Commissioner’s office and the Constabulary’s Force Control management team to ensure standards are being upheld.
PCC Keane said: “Our volunteers play a vital role in ensuring the service delivered by Cheshire Constabulary to the public is of a good standard.
“Over the last year the volunteers that support my office, which also includes Police Dog Welfare Visitors, Independent Custody Visitors, Consultation Volunteers and Front Desk Auditors and those that support the Constabulary, including Special Constables, Independent Advisors and all the volunteers that support a number of other areas, have continued to show passion for keeping Cheshire safe.
“I am also pleased that we have been able to put in place a number of measures to ensure some of these vital roles continues throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Our volunteering schemes remain as an important part of our reassurance messages particularly to the public that we are operating as close to business as usual as we can do.
“The new process we have put in place seems to be working and we have received some positive responses from detainees in custody who have required support.
“I would like to thank all of our dedicated volunteers who have continued to give up their time both during and before the pandemic to support our volunteer schemes.”
