North Wales Police Special Constabulary Conference

A conference and engagement day for North Wales Volunteer Police Officers was held over the weekend with over 50 Volunteer Police Officers in attendance from across the Force area.  This year’s theme was “Reflect, Reset, Restart”.

The day began focusing on the ‘Reflect’ aspect; looking back over recent years and the fantastic efforts that have been made by our volunteers, this was especially relevant with North Wales Police celebrating our 50^th anniversary this year. The afternoon concentrated on the current position of our Special Constabulary and the aspirations of our Volunteers going forward.

The day was full of interactive sessions looking at what we can do to support our officers and how we can get the very best from our Special Constables to make the volunteer experience as rewarding as possible.

We were privileged to welcome Dr Iain Britton as a guest speaker at the conference. Dr Britton is a leading academic in the field of volunteer policing, who has researched widely in the UK and internationally, helping to improve and grow volunteering in policing.  He was a key guest speaker focusing on our Reflect theme and facilitated one of our afternoon workshops looking at motivation and retention. 

We also welcomed Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman to the stage to talk about the North Wales Police force priorities, and how the Special Constabulary helps us to achieve these priorities. Chief Constable Blakeman said “It was fantastic to see so many of our Volunteer Officers together this weekend discussing so many aspects of their roles. As this was the start of National Volunteers Week it was also a privilege to be able to thank our Volunteers Police Officers for their commitment and contribution.”

“It was a great opportunity for the Special Constabulary to reflect on their work over the past few years and what is happening nationally and then to hear the passion and energy that they have for the future. 

A key strength that the Special Constabulary brings to North Wales Police is that as our volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds and have a wealth of different experiences, our volunteers bring something unique to their role which helps to contribute our vision of making North Wales the safest place to live, work and visit in the UK.”

The conference also coincided with the 40^th Anniversary of National Volunteers Week; a week to celebrate the amazing contributions volunteers make to communities across the UK.

Special Chief Officer Mark Owen said “One of the things that impressed me the most about the conference was that it was organised by volunteers from the Special Constabulary for the Special Constabulary. Because of that it focused on those issues that our SC officers had told the organising team that they wanted to hear about and enabled them to have a voice as we look to further improve the North Wales Police Special Constabulary”.

Could you be a Volunteer Police Officer? Click here - Volunteer (Special) Constable - 2024 Intakes (C) - Police Jobs Wales (tal.net) to apply.