Exploring the meanings of ‘volunteer’ within policing culture

A growth in citizen involvement in policing would herald a much more open and engaging era in policing. Citizen involvement in policing has huge potential to transform the ways that we are policed in the future, and to play a major part in achieving safer communities. Made up of 16,000 volunteers, the Special Constabulary is a vital resource within police forces in order to protect and serve local communities. The paper will draw on thematic analysis of senior and strategic perspectives of the Special Constabulary from within police forces as well as Police and Crime Commissioner Offices, captured in a series of semi-structured interviews. In order to critically interrogate the emergent organisational cultures within policing, a conceptual framework based on the work of Schein (2010) was developed to identify conceptual distinctions between symbols, language, values, beliefs and assumptions. The paper will, based on this conceptual framework, explore the meanings of being a volunteer within the organisational culture and leadership of police, considering operational implications and the experiential effects for volunteers in these settings.