Police give insight into careers
Mon, 20 February 2017
Police Community Support Officers visited Tameside College to talk to Public Services students about careers in the public services sector.
The officers gave an insight into their day to day roles that includes; walking on the beat in the community, visiting victims of crimes, guarding crime scenes and dealing with anti-social behaviour.
They also gave the students a challenge to solve by putting them in the position of a police officer trying to help a woman with serious mental health issues. The students were asked to read about the case background in groups and consider how this affected the woman and the local community. They then had to decide upon the best course of action to take.
Although they aren’t fully warranted police officers, PCSOs have a lot of the same powers as the regular force including the power to detain people and seize property.
Beth Mcarthy, teacher in sport and public services, said: “The students enjoyed meeting the two officers as many of them want to join the police force after leaving college. I think many of them may even consider becoming a PCSO as another option to becoming a full time officer after this presentation. We hope to see them again soon.”
Carolyn Schofield, PCSO for Greater Manchester Police, said: “Thank you to Tameside college for letting us visit the students. They all got involved and I hope that they now understand exactly what it’s like to be an officer. I think we will be seeing some of them joining us in the next few years.”