The Training of Uniformed Police Volunteers to Utilize Evidence-Based Policing: An Insight From Volunteer Special Constables in England and Wales

This research examines if uniformed police volunteers, called ‘special constables’ across England and Wales, are trained to understand and utilize evidence-based policing (EBP) in their volunteering. As the government across the United Kingdom focuses on neighbourhood policing, the special constabulary is key in enacting such activities within communities. The research used an anonymous online questionnaire, collecting data from 129 volunteer special constables across four different rural and urban police forces in England and Wales. The findings demonstrate that most respondents had received little training relating to EBP; however, nearly two-thirds of the respondents used EBP regularly. Despite national learning programmes, the data suggests that special constables may not be receiving similar opportunities for training as their regular police officer counterparts, yet are still expected to both support and complete similar policing tasks. This article concludes by discussing the implications of EBP training for volunteers and areas for future research.