PW_3_2020_230720_flip

Life in Lockdown

A Special Contribution Dan McNulty , Vice Chair, North Wales Branch

2020 has seen a massive and unprecedented pressure placed on the emergency services due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. In the UK, a lockdown period began on the 23rd March to limit the spread of the virus. Enforcement powers were issued to Police forces across the country in a bid to ensure the lockdown rules were being followed. Immense planning took place to map out how Police forces would cope with staff shortages, sickness and the increased demand on all emergency services. N orth Wales Police Special Constabulary (NWPSC) currently has 175 serving Officers, ranging from Special Constables to a Special Chief Officer. We knew that the pandemic would be a challenge for

A large part of the Special Constabulary’s role currently is public reassurance and to provide a high visibility policing presence in our communities. The demand for this has increased massively since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially as the difference in legislation that exists between England and Wales has created some uncertainty and we are providing significant numbers out on high profile patrols Reassuring our communities, whilst Engaging, Educating and Encouraging and where necessary Enforcing. SC duties have been split between local deployment patrols and forcewide deployments. Local deployments began with SCs conducting high visibility foot patrols in their local patches, speaking to members of the public and providing reassurance. Once enforcement powers were introduced, this duty was supported by the Special Constabulary providing a continuous police presence, especially in tourist hotspots. Forcewide deployments have been conducted over the past month, focusing on areas popular with tourists. The force wide deployments consist of three or four PSU carriers of officers, a scout vehicle and a prisoner transport vehicle. The vehicles travel in convoy to each designated area where the teams conduct high visibility patrols and vehicle stops. This method of policing has proven effective, with local communities noting the presence of community patrols, but deterring those wanting to breach Covid-19 regulations. Up to the end of May, North Wales Special Constabulary has volunteered nearly 25,000 hours in 2020 alone, with April and May seeing nearly 7000 hours each. This is on top of the massive commitment our Police colleagues have undertaken. Without the effort and support of the Special Constabulary, especially during these testing times, the Police would struggle in facing these huge demands.

the Special Constabulary and one we had to prepare for. Planning began in 2019, not directly for Covid-19, but for a greater integrated response between North Wales Police and the Special Constabulary. The NWPSC stated its intention in the 2019 Force Management Statement to “bolster, develop and practice the Special Constabulary’s ability to provide the Force with rapidly available additional capability and capacity at times of exceptional demand.” The NWPSC have since invested a lot of time and energy in pursuit of this ambition. Mark Owen, the Specials Chief Officer, was involved with the Gold level planning from day one, ensuring the SC officers were included in the overall response from NWP, and to deploy the SC as its own entity in line with the Gold strategy. The Special Constabulary Operational Planning Team (SCOPT) created a centrally controlled mobilising system (Operation METEOR), through which SCs could be requested and dispatched at short notice. Op METEOR consists of an on-call rostering system for Special Inspectors and Chief Inspectors which are sent out every day to the duty commanders and Force Incident Mangers (FIMs) in the control room. A request for officers is sent to the on-call manager for that day, for an immediate or scheduled response. Utilising ‘DutySheet’, our management system, a request can be sent out immediately via SMS for officers to attend a specific location. If the response is not immediate, events can be established for future dates and officer numbers sent back to the operational commanders. Utilising ‘DutySheet’ also gives the ability to request specific skill sets, such as driving authority, PSU etc. Training has been passed to all SCs across North Wales Police and all the FIMs.

POLICE WORLD Vol 65 No.3, 2020

21