Volunteers are a vital part of our WMP family.
We have volunteers supporting us, operating as integral members of some of our busiest teams and departments, from our dog unit through to forensics.
Charlotte Highsmith, Citizens in Policing
Some people volunteer one day a week, others support us on a more casual basis. Some come in most days! Volunteering is incredibly flexible and we are hugely grateful to everyone who gives their time to help us offer the best possible service.
There’s hundreds of volunteers already working with us and we always have volunteering opportunities to offer, which can be found in our list of current vacancies.
Whether it’s volunteering as a puppy walker, a cadet leader, joining our team who operate the police museum, supporting our local neighbourhood teams, or using your specialist skills to volunteer in our specialist departments like the economic crime team, public protection or forensics – we value the effort, support and skills that volunteers bring.
Utilise your skills and expertise to help us achieve our visions and values in preventing crime and helping those in need.
Our volunteer programme offers members of the community the opportunity to become citizens in policing. Being a citizen is a vital role, as a Police Support Volunteer (PSV) you will bring valuable skills and expertise to our police teams, creating a closer and more effective relationship within our communities and increasing the capacity of our constabulary.
As a volunteer, you will receive training, advice and guidance in order to carry out your role and to develop your skill set. Volunteers bring fresh ideas, raise local concerns and also possible solutions. As a volunteer you will also act as advocates for West Midlands Police by sharing your experiences of working alongside us within your own neighbourhoods. Volunteers are there to support and add additional value to the organisation; as a volunteer you will not replace employed staff or officers. Each area of West Midlands Police works differently. Therefore the roles that volunteers undertake in each of these areas will be slightly different.
Some of these roles include:
Chaplaincy: We currently have volunteers who support our Force Chaplaincy; offering support and friendship to employees. Take a look at Dave Baker, one of our force chaplains – has to say about his role.
Cadet Leaders: The cadets are often from vulnerable backgrounds and our Cadet Leaders play a vital role, acting as role models who inspire and guide young people, supporting them to become active citizens. See more about life as a Cadet Leader, from one of our unit commanders, Rani Gundhu.
Puppy Walkers: Puppy walkers play a vital role in the early socialisation and education of WMP dogs. This is a full-time volunteering role, as our puppy lives with the volunteer in your home, where you will be providing a vital foundation for its future role as a WMP dog! At about six – eight weeks of age, puppies start their early training, remaining with the volunteer until between 12-16 months of age. They then head off to a training centre to begin their specialised training.
Volunteer Police Officers – our Special Constabulary: ‘Specials’ work alongside regular officers and Police Community Support Officers in many policing teams and are expected to commit an average of 16 hours service per month. Despite being volunteers, Special Constables have the same powers of a police officer. Our Special Constables are involved in carrying out duties like responding to 999 calls, patrolling our local communities, road safety initiatives, helping ensure public safety and security at local and major events, as well as working in some of our specialist departments, such as Roads Policing, Public Protection, Operations and Force CID as investigators or specially trained volunteer officers.
Our Special Constables are integral members of our volunteering family. Specials wear the police uniform and have fully warranted powers. See what being a special constable means, in the words of some of our volunteer officers – click on their images to read their stories.
Special Inspector Navdeep Chouhan:
Volunteering can improve interactions between the police family and the local community. It is the opportunity to give something back to your community, to meet people and to make new friends whilst developing new skills. In return all we ask for is a regular commitment of your time and enthusiasm.
West Midlands Police are currently recruiting for volunteers to join our policing family and we are working on creating even more new and exciting volunteering opportunities. For current volunteer roles, please visit https://wmp.referrals.selectminds.com/latest-jobs
If coming in to support WMP in a formal volunteer role isn’t quite for you, there’s still lots of opportunities – from Neighbourhood Watch and Street Watch (pictured above) to joining some of our networks, such as an Independent Advisory Group.
See more about how to get involved, here: https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/get-involved