East Area PCSOs at the heart of our community.

Across East Area the work our PCSOs do really is at the heart of our communities. Throughout the many wards, our PCSOs perform endless work that often goes unnoticed, but really is vital to our community. They not only support and chat to residents daily, but also provide a key link between our police and community organisations across the three boroughs.

PCSOs are at the heart of the Met family in East Area and find themselves working on everything from policing high-profile events and responding to major incidents, to keeping the road network running smoothly. 

The new campaign highlights how for PCSOs, bravery can come in many unexpected forms; and their ability to talk to each and every individual in their community will become their most vital asset in keeping neighbourhoods safe.  

New recruits will receive training on all the knowledge, skills and legislative powers needed to carry out their duties, including first aid and personal safety, enabling them to deal calmly with whatever challenges arise each day and to serve their community with confidence. 

Brand new PCSOs can expect to begin with six weeks of building skills in areas such as gathering and handling evidence, managing scenes of crime, patrol and emergency life support. 

The campaign also foregrounds the range of attractive benefits that come with the role – including an annual starting salary of circa £30,232, and a possible additional shift allowance of between 12.5 and 20 per cent.   

In addition, successful applicants get 28 days of paid annual leave, rising to 33 days after five years’ service; as well as access to a civil staff pension scheme and free travel on or off duty on London’s buses. 

Superintendent David Rhodes East Area’s Neighbourhood Policing lead for Barking and Dagenham said: 

“PCSO’s are at the heart of local community policing and are able to reach out to many different groups of people, spending the time to listen to concerns, give crime prevention advice and be visible in the areas they police.  They are absolutely valuable to our teams and a vital link in reaching out to people. PCSOs are a crucial part of our plan in building the strongest ever neighbourhoods for London and achieve our mission of more trust, less crime, high standards”.

Neighbourhood Policing – PCSO Sullivan said:

“I would recommend a career as a PCSO for anyone who enjoys talking to people.  I’ve always enjoyed walking and speaking to people, and after seeing an advertisement I thought why not get paid for the things I like to do? 

I work on a busy ward with each day being different.  At every opportunity I provide crime prevention advice to members of the public, thinking perhaps I can stop them becoming a victim of crime. I spend time visiting different community groups such as senior citizens breakfast clubs and nurseries.  I also work with victims of burglary providing reassurance and try to help them overcome what has happened. The list is endless and after 14 years I still love being a PCSO”.

The Met is firmly stepping back into community policing where we will rebuild those bonds of trust and partnership with communities so we are working together to tackle the issues Londoners tell us they want tackled.

To find out more about becoming a PCSO in London search ‘Met PCSO’ .

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