NCJ Number
123509
Journal
Police Volume: 22 Issue: 6 Dated: (March 1990) Pages: 28,30
Date Published
1990
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Civilians in the British police service represent 25 percent of police strength, and the future rate of growth in civilians is expected to be substantially higher than the planned increase in police officers.
Abstract
One of the issues in the use of civilians by police departments concerns the possibility of industrial action or strike. Contingency plans must be in place to deal with a strike. Key technical civilian posts to be run by police officers in the event of a protracted industrial action are control rooms, computers, crime scenes, fingerprinting, and prosecution. Reduced fiscal resources will impact manpower levels. Planning is also complicated by unexpected demands on police forces. Police officers view patrolling and specialization as important, but indicate that civilianization should make more police officers available for patrol duty.