Young people to get say over Cheshire police support officer selections

Last week, students from the Winsford Academy observed the PCSO selection process which included interviews incorporating scenarios and questions directly from the young people.

Chief Superintendent Nicholas Bailey said: "The public of Cheshire deserve excellent policing, in order to achieve that, we make no excuse for setting high standards for all our recruits. We frequently look to improve the selection process to ensure that successful candidates meet the needs of the public. One way we have raised the bar is to include feedback from young people directly into our selection processes. This includes the design of scenarios that we use to test candidates, the type and style of questions we ask and what we expect from them."

The changes came as a result of a review of the selection process undertaken by Youth Ambassador Dominic Rogers.

Dominic Rogers said: "I’ve been working with the Constabulary’s Human Resources department to see how young people can get involved in the selection process. Getting them involved in the PCSO process is the first stage, which I hope to continue to develop alongside young people from across the county.

"PCSOs work closely with local communities and will meet young people on a daily basis. With this in mind, I think it’s vital that the selection process includes scenarios and questions that have been written by young people to help PCSOs feel comfortable, and able to talk to them on their level. It also gives prospective PCSOs an idea of some of the issues they may encounter once working in local communities."

Charlie West, leader of the Academy’s School Council said, "Seeing the process has been a valuable experience. It’s interesting to see exactly what goes on and how candidates have to prepare for the role both physically and mentally.

"It’s great that young people can have a voice into these processes as we feel we can have a direct say in what happens in our communities."