Recruiting Volunteers
Police forces wishing to engage communities through volunteering compete against well-respected organisations with many years of experience. Ensure you employ a consistent approach to recruitment, selection and placement.
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The voluntary sector is a highly competitive marketplace. Forces need to identify roles and put in place systems which will attract and retain volunteers.
The recruitment, selection and placement processes should form part of the policy statement ensuring a consistent approach. Issues to be considered include:
- Defining recruitment and marketing messages
- Designing appropriate recruitment literature
- Developing a police support volunteer application form that meets the needs of the force
- Defining the criteria for accepting or rejecting police support volunteers, eg age restrictions, precluded occupations, previous convictions, nationality issues and refugee status, health matters, conflicts of interest, individuals claiming benefits, etc
- Volunteer vetting procedures eg security checks, references
- Developing an appropriate interview process to include questions relating to diversity
- Matching volunteers to suitable placements.
Useful Documents
These documents are supplied as examples of good practice by participating forces.