20 Years of Service: The Journey of a PCSO
The role of a PCSO can be immensely rewarding, where no two days are ever the same. You have the opportunity to maximise on your communication and problem-solving skills to make a real difference in your community. We recently caught up with PCSO Peter, who was one of the first Thames Valley Police PCSOs to join the force 20 years ago!
Here, he shares his reflections on a career that has spanned two decades.
Peter, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I joined the force in 2004 in Aylesbury and have been dedicated to the community ever since. Over the years, I have worked in both urban and rural areas of Aylesbury.
What made you decide to pursue a career as a PCSO?
20 years ago, I saw an advert in the newspaper for a new position with TVP. They were looking for individuals with life experience, and the salary was appealing. At the time, I was a postman with 14 years of service, so the community aspect of the role resonated deeply with me.
20 years is a long time to proudly serve your community, how has the role changed over the years?
When we first started there was not a neighbourhood team like there is today, we were effectively it. It was a challenging start, as the role was still new and met with some criticism. However, public perception of our role has improved significantly over the years. When new people join, I like to share that it is all about working collaboratively as one team, I have a lot of life experience, so it is good to learn from one another.
Our job was initially to deter anti-social groups gathering on local estates and to try to deter their activity. We would carry out audits of our local area, look at issues like dog problems, monitor and report broken street signs and lampposts. A lot of our work required us to work with the councils back then, whereas these days we deal with a lot more crime. When I started it was foot beat, we were not allowed cars. However, after about four years in, this changed. I now cover 66 square miles, so cars are used upon more than what they used to be.
And do you like the fact that you get to deal with more crime now?
I think that is what we were invented for. So, in my view, yes. We started to work more on things like arson, criminal damages and low-level thefts, we would go in an investigate the crime up to the point of obtaining a statement and arrest, at that point we would hand it over to an officer. At that time our work really helped with public perception. To this day, due to the amount of work officers have, they sometime come to us to help them with the smaller crimes.
What does a typical shift these days look like?
We start with our briefing, we then check what jobs there are on our system, that we could pick up. We can go along and gather evidence and intel to help an investigation, and then hand over to an officer to continue with obtaining the statements and making the arrests if they are needed.
On shift we like to make sure we have got a car and then we are out in the community. If there have been any crimes recently in particular area, that will then be known as one of our hotspots, so we like to patrol that area to keep an eye on it.
We host ‘Have You Say’ meetings with the community, this allows members of our community to come and chat to us about issues in their area and receive some crime prevention advice from us.
How do you feel you have made a difference to your community over the last 20 years?
The biggest difference you will find now is on any of the estates. There is not as many groups of anti-social people anymore on the estates in Aylesbury – a lot different to when we first started as there were multiple of them. That is improving the public perception of the area. People are feeling safer, and we are not seeing as much criminal damage, graffiti, or arson.

For someone to say, “That's a good job, well done, thank you very much.” It gives you a bit of a boost, it's nice to know that what you are doing is actually impacting people in a in a positive way.
PCSO Peter
What are the most rewarding and challenging parts of the role?
Some of the challenges of the role include some of the things we cover to help the officers, like fear for welfare, these can sometimes result in tragic circumstances, and it is hard to deal with at times. You cannot necessarily talk to your partner about it as they might not understand but can talk to your colleagues about it more, you do also get offered counselling. Although there are some challenging parts to the role there are more good parts than bad. One of the main upsides is the smile on somebody’s face when you have done a good job and they have a result out of it. When at the end of the day, for someone to say, “That’s a good job, well done, thank you very much.” It gives you a bit of a boost, it’s nice to know that what you are doing is actually impacting people in a in a positive way.
What skills and qualities would you say makes a great PCSO?
Being able to talk to people. You have to be able to empathise and listen. Talking with them, not to them or at them, but with them. It always helps when you are trying to bring people around, because once they feel you’re listening, and you understand what they are saying it makes a big difference. So, if you can do that, you will get on in the job.
What makes you proud to be a PCSO?
That I can make a change. I have made changes to every area I have worked on in some respect. Whether our work is resulting in less kids gathering or there is less fear of crime, we can make a difference.
Want a career to be proud of?
If you feel inspired by Peter’s story and feel you could make a difference, then explore our vacancies > TVP Careers
- Post date: 3rd October 2024
- Post category: News