Police support officers are 'a con'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Britons are being "conned" by the Government's use of police community support officers (PCSOs), in a "flawed experiment", according to the Police Federation.
"They were brought in for best of reasons," said Paul McKeever, chairman of the Federation, "but I think it was a deeply flawed experiment." He also said that the hundreds of millions spent on the scheme could have paid for 12,000 extra police officers.
"If you are, in effect, conning the public by putting people in uniform who the public believe have powers they don't possess, why are we employing them?"
The criticisms are made in a Dispatches documentary about PCSOs, on Channel 4 tomorrow.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments