 
"Special Reports"
Assistant
Chief Officer Rod Attewell
Thames Valley
Police
Kidlington, Oxfordshire, Great Britain
FAX: +44 1865
846385
"About Rod
Attewell"
Thames Valley Police Department
European Volunteer
Police
by Assistant Chief Officer Rod
Attewell
dPolice Powers dUniform dEquipment dRemuneraton dRepresentation dPercentage of Volunteers
dAge
Limit dTraining dDriving dDeployment dRelationship dConclusion
In addition to
the United Kingdom, there are three other countries in Europe that
use Volunteer Police, they are:
-
Germany
-
The
Netherlands
-
Finland
These three countries have
Volunteer Police organizations that closely resemble the UK Special
Constabulary. Whilst the published tasks of the Volunteers
vary slightly in each country, there is a common theme of providing
a link between the community and the Police.
For this report, I am using
information I obtained during visits made earlier this year to the
Polizei Baden-Wurttemberg in the south-west of Germany, and the Politie Noord-en
Oost-Gelderland in the east of The
Netherlands.
The
Freiwilliger Polizeidienst (FPD) is the name used for Police
volunteers in Germany; it translates to
"Volunteer Police Service." It was started in 1955, initially
to police special events and to guard utilities during the cold war;
but in recent years, it has become a reserve to the regular
force.
The
Vrijwillige Politie (VP) is the name used for the volunteers
in The Netherlands; it translates to
"Volunteer Police." It was started in 1948, when there was a
need to increase Police numbers. Its function has always been
to act as a reserve to the regular force.
POLICE POWERS
Both the FPD and
VP have the same Police powers as regular Officers, but only whilst
on duty.
The sixteen Bundeslander
(states) of Germany each have their own Police force, only three use
Police Volunteers. Volunteers have Police powers in their own
state.
The Dutch Police are a
national force, divided into twenty-five regions. Volunteers,
therefore, have Police powers throughout the country.
UNIFORM
The FPD and VP both wear the same uniform as regular
Officers, with insignia as follows:
-
Germany -
Volunteers have green bars on the epaulettes
denoting seniority by length of service, not rank, as
follows:
A single bar for up to
five years service and then an additional bar is added for each
five years service completed.
As the regular force has
fifteen ranks, it is felt that the public cannot differentiate
between Volunteers and regular Officers with this
insignia.
-
The
Netherlands - Volunteers have gold bars on the
epaulettes denoting seniority by length of service, as
follows:
One bar trainee, two bars
after two years of service. Three and four bars were issued prior
to 1994, to show service at three and five years; but this has now
been discontinued for Volunteers.
The regular force uses
the same bars; therefore, the public cannot differentiate between
Volunteer and regular Officers with this
insignia.
EQUIPMENT
Both the FPD and
VP supply their Volunteers with the same equipment as regular
Officers, including firearms. The FPD carry a 9mm Lugar
pistol, and the VP carry a Walther 9mm pistol.
REMUNERATION
Volunteer
Officers in both the FPD and VP are paid, based on the number of
duty hours performed as follows:
-
Germany -
The following applies to Police Volunteers in
Polizei
Baden-Wurttemberg:
GBP4.00 ($6.00) per hour, tax
free, for all duty and training and travel costs to and from the
Police Station are
reimbursed.
A maximum of GBP210 ($315) per month is permitted as tax-free
earnings; and in practice, the force will not permit volunteers to
exceed this amount.
-
The
Netherlands - The following applies to the
Police Volunteers in Politie Noorden
Oost-Gelderland:
GBP370 ($5.55) per
hour, only the first GBP1.50 ($2.25) earned on each shift is
tax-free. Training time is paid, but travel costs to and
from the Police Station are not reimbursed.
An annual
bounty of GBP85.00 ($127.50) is paid to each Officer. There
is no monthly limit on the number of hours worked, but subject to
EU working time
regulations.
REPRESENTATION
The FPD and VP
both have representation bodies.
-
Germany -
Volunteers may join the Deutschen
Polizeigewerkschaft (German Police Union) which is part of the
Deutschen Beamtenbund (German Union of Government
Officials).
-
The
Netherlands - Volunteers are represented by
the Landelijke Organisatie van Politie Vrijwilligers (National
Organization for Police Volunteers). The organization
represents the interests of the Police Volunteers to the
government.
Police Volunteers may join the Algemene
Christelijke Politiebond (General Christian Police Union).
For an annual fee of GBP34.00 ($51.00) Volunteers are fully
insured against injury, and representation is provided should any
allegation be made against them.
PERCENTAGE OF VOLUNTEERS
-
Germany -
The Polizei Baden-Wurttemberg has 1,700
Volunteers which is 7% of the strength of the regular
force.
-
The
Netherlands - There are 2,500 Volunteers
(whole country) which is 6% of the strength of the regular
force.
AGE LIMIT
Recruits in
Germany may join the Volunteer Police aged over 18, and retirement
is normally at age 55; however, Volunteers may carry on until aged
65 subject to satisfactory fitness. A citizen of any EU
country may join the German Police.
Most Volunteer recruits are
aged 30+ and are discouraged from joining the Volunteers if they are
considering joining the regular force. Most areas have a
waiting list to join the Volunteer Police.
Applicants for the Volunteer
Police in The Netherlands must be Dutch citizens and aged over
18. Retirement is at age 60. Very few join the
Volunteers intending to join the regular force later.
Retention of Volunteers is good, although attracting new recruits
has recently become difficult.
TRAINING
-
Germany -
Initial training is two hours each weekday
evening and three hours on Saturday mornings over a period of six
weeks. Ongoing training of forty hours per year is then
required.
-
The
Netherlands - Initial training is two hours on
two evenings per week for the first two years. Ongoing
training of thirty hours per year is then
required.
DRIVING
-
Germany -
The Polizei Baden-Wurttemberg has a one-hour
driving test for both Regular and Volunteer Officers for
non-autobahn driving. Blue lights and sirens may be
used.
-
The
Netherlands - Volunteers take a half-day
driving test that permits them to drive on Patrol. Blue
lights and sirens may be used.
DEPLOYMENT
There appears to
be very little difference from that of the UK in the deployment
of Volunteers in Germany and The Netherlands. Volunteers
in rural areas appear to have a closer working relationship with
regular Officers than those in city areas. They tend to Police
more special events than carry out routine Patrol duties.
In both countries, deployment
tends to be with a Regular Officer at night; although, staff
shortages on occasions led to Volunteers being paired together in a
vehicle.
Call signs identify vehicles
manned by Volunteers, and control rooms are encouraged to give these
vehicles "routine" commitments leaving the regular Officers for
commitments requiring their higher level of training.
RELATHIONSHIP
The relationship
between regular and Volunteer Officers in both Germany and The
Netherlands appear to be generally good.
At the beginning of each
month, Police Volunteers in both countries have to commit to the
duties they would perform. The regular supervisors then expect
the Volunteers to perform these duties as they are being paid for
doing them.
It would appear
that problems have existed in the past, particularly
in The Netherlands where the regular Police union tried to have
the Volunteer Police abolished. In 1994, the Police Volunteers
were reorganized at the same time as the regular Police; and the
problems have now diminished due to increased training for
Volunteers. The average duty performed in both countries is
30+ hours per month.
CONCLUSION
Both in Germany
and in The Netherlands, the Volunteer Police operate on very similar
lines to the UK Special Constabulary with one exception - they are
paid.
At only 6-7% of the strength
of the regular force, they are lower than the UK at 10%. I
believe that their Volunteers have more commitment to the force,
possibly as a result of them receiving payment.
Recruitment and retention in
both countries are better than in the UK, possibly as a
result of applicants being 30+ years of age on average and because
they have no desire to become regular Officers.
Neither country has a rank
structure for their Volunteers. Both prefer to indicate
seniority by length of service.
Both countries permit
Volunteers to join the same union as regular Officers which provides
insurance coverage and legal aid.
The Netherlands has a
representative organization for Volunteers to lobby
government.
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#########
MARCH,
2003
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