Of course what you get with a police officer TFO, is the fact that he/she, being an attested constable has worked a beat, has driven in a live pursuit, has chased suspects through gardens, has passed advanced driving/TPAC courses, has stood in the cold & contained premises awaiting dog handler / aircraft and indeed is very likely to have searched thru gardens/hedgerows with an a/c overhead..!
All these things, nice as they are to have in an observer are not strictly necessary, but they make for a much more balanced crew member for having these skills and experiences.
Arguably what's more important is that a police officer will have dealt with victims of crime face to face, will have dealt with the assault victim, the rape victim the robbery victim. They will have knocked on a door at 4am to tell someone their loved one has been killed in an accident, and then spent the next few hours helping them thru the aftermath. They are quite likely to have been a firearms Officer and brought weapons to bear on the streets of the UK.
Because of these things they have empathy, and know what expectations the public have of them, and what they want the police to do for them. You can sum it up with the word "duty".
Can you teach a "civilian" these things..?
Of course you can..!
You can teach patrol skills, search techniques, rules of evidence, PACE, powers of entry, TPAC rules, rules for the use of force, some basic law. You can even teach & instil a sense of duty to your staff I suppose.
This is happening across policing everywhere now in all sorts of roles.
The only issue is. Where does the line end. Where is the point where the role deserves a police officer to be in post and to be subject to the discipline procedures, rules, protection from industrial action, political activity and responsibility to the public that the office of constable brings.?
Where is the line whereby if you have teach so many skills to a civilian, they may as well be an attested Officer..!
And the point is, we are "policing" from the sky.
Personally I think the TFO role is doomed. Winsor will see to that if NPAS doesn't.
Last edited by morris1; 9th Oct 2012 at 02:31.