I think the PCSO scheme might have worked, if it was done differently. Firstly, having professional officers (albeit without full police powers) as an auxiliary force for the police to utilise is a good idea, in my mind. The title PSCO would probably be the one I'd use, as I've got a few other ideas about how to utilize them. For instance, they might be employed to do administrative work. Why should a Commisioner or a Chief Constable or a Superintendant have a fully fledged PC as a secretary. Why not use PSCO's as secretarial staff? Why not use people in their role in archives, for collators duties to mention a few. Using them as outreach officers in primary schools and stuff like that would probably also work. Why not let them do the traffic education that police all over the world give to toddlers?
And while I'm at it, they might be used to reestablish the old concept of the local bobbie. In villages, neighborhoods, they could fill a role that's lacking from policing today.
That might have worked. Using them as normal beat cops don't work. They need to be a force of professionals with duties they can handle, and handle well. They might very well become a useful tool in policing the communities. In my mind, a PCSO in his or her limited role, shouldn't be deployed in pairs of PCSO's. Ideally, I think they could be handy to have on a beat, two normal PCs and a PCSO, for instance. The big problem with PCSO's are their limitations and lack of competance, much of that would become less evident once they were placed under the command of 'proper' constables.
Make them the professional speical constables of our day. Why not?
