Police Community Support Officer

Our PCSO's play a vital part in keeping Sussex safe. Being a PCSO offers a challenging, yet incredibly rewarding career. Working alongside our policing prevention teams to prevent and tackle local issues; you will be out and about on the streets of Sussex, building relationships within the community and winning the trust of the public. You will encounter a range of situations from dealing with anti‑social behaviour, taking statements from victims of crimes, providing reassurance and helping resolve community challenges. As a PCSO you are the face of local policing for the community, ensuring we meet our policing priorities.

Responsibilities

• Going on highly visible foot patrols.
• Reassuring the public after minor crimes or anti‑social behaviour.
• Building relationships with community, religious and business leaders.
• Working with young people and local schools.
• Making house visits to gather intelligence.
• Collecting CCTV evidence.
• Carrying out missing person enquiries.
• Protecting crime scenes until police officers arrive.
• Providing crime prevention and personal safety advice.
• Offering support at large public gatherings, such as sports events and public demonstrations.

The role will be on an initial fixed‑term contract; however, upon successful completion of the apprenticeship you will transition to a permanent contract. You will work shifts on a rotating pattern covering the full week Monday to Sunday between the hours of 8:00 am and midnight, so you will need to be prepared to work weekends and Bank Holidays.

Qualifications

• Have lived in the UK for three continuous years immediately prior to application.
• Have leave to enter or leave to remain and work in the UK for an indefinite period.
• Have obtained and be able to evidence GCSE English at grade A‑C/9‑4 or Level 2 Functional Skills qualification and, if you are under the age of 19, GCSE Maths at grade A‑C/9‑4 or Level 2 Functional Skills qualification. However, you don’t need to have these at the application point but will need to have achieved these by the date of your End‑Point Assessment.
• Have a full UK manual driving licence (by the time of appointment).
• Not be a member of the British National Party (BNP) or other relevant organisations.
• Not have tattoos which could cause offence.
• Not have more than six penalty points.
• Not have served a prison sentence.

Diversity Statement

We are only as good as our people. It’s important that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we know that as an organisation we’ll grow from the variety of thinking, approach, and the skills that diversity brings; all of which help us to deliver a better policing service. We strive to ensure how we deliver our services, provide information and how we recruit is open and accessible to all. We have multiple staff support groups who help to improve our understanding of minority issues and ensure they are reflected in our work. We are proud members of Disability Confident, hold Race Equality Matters Trailblazer status, are a signatory of the Race at Work Charter and are aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement. We are committed to being an anti‑racist police service. We promise to challenge injustice, ensure fairness and uphold anti‑racist principles in both our organisation and our communities.

Benefits

• Starting salary of £28,914 plus unsocial hours shift allowance of approximately £7,000 per year (pro rata).
• Fully‑funded professional qualification – Level 4 Diploma in Community Policing Practice.
• 177.6 hours per year annual leave, rising to 214.6 hours per year depending on your length of service.
• A standard full‑time PCSO working day is 8.25 hour, this equates to approximately 21 days per year.
• In addition, you will receive 8 Public Holiday days per year.
• A competitive benefits package including pension, flexible benefits, employee assistance programme for advice and counselling, access to discounts / savings / cash‑back rewards.
• A progressive approach to flexible working, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and potential for a career break (after two years' service).
• Opportunities to join various support networks, staff associations and sports clubs.

Additional Information

Following submission of your application you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your application attached. Occasionally emails from this address can fall into spam/junk folders so please ensure this is checked regularly. You may wish to consider adding noreply@surreysussexpolice.as.recruitmail.com to your address/contact list to ensure you receive all communications. This post is being advertised in parallel with Force redeployment processes. Any redeployed employees who are identified will be given preference. This may result in the post being withdrawn at any point during the recruitment process. Please note that not all jobs are available for internal candidates across both Forces, the current agreed recruitment principles are: Vacancies in collaborated units are available to all officers and staff across both Forces. Vacancies in non‑collaborated units are only available to officers and staff within the Force with the vacancy unless it is advertised externally. If the vacancy is advertised externally and an officer or member of staff from the other Force is successful it will result in a transfer of employment.