Community support officers have proved their worth to the Wiltshire police force but now the constabulary wants others to help pay their wages. LEWIS COWEN reports

IF police community support officers had been designed specifically for Wiltshire, they could not have worked out better.

The full-time uniformed officers, who have no powers of arrest but provide a visible police presence on the streets, have more than proved their worth since they arrived in April 2003.

Wiltshire is now comfortably the safest county in England and Wales as far as figures for hard crime are concerned but that does not stop the average Moonraker from fearing that he or she is likely to be a victim of crime any moment.

But since the PCSOs have been patrolling the streets, Chief Superintendent Mandy Evely, who is in overall charge of them in Wiltshire, has been inundated with an increasing number of requests for them.

She said: "It was amazing. They started in April and by

September I was snowed in with requests from towns all over the county for them to have their own PCSOs.

"Two months into the scheme I had so many letters saying how excellent they were and what a difference they were making to crime and anti-social behaviour in their areas.

"Whether they are or not, who can say? But the perception is there and people are feeling better about things because the PCSOs are a visible presence."

Chief Superintendent Evely admits to being a little sceptical as to the effect that the initial eight PCSOs that she had in North and West Wiltshire could possibly have, especially as they had 11 towns to cover.

But they succeeded, in the main because they are not police officers but have a specific role of their own which police officers, with the best will in the world, are unable to perform for one reason or another.

Chief Superintendent Evely said: "The key to that different job is that they are not rushing from one job to another every time they get a call on their radio. Similarly, because they have no powers of arrest, they are not bogged down in the paperwork that always accompanies arrests."

The PCSOs are the 21st century equivalent of the bobby on the beat. Indeed, they are also taking on the role of the uncle or auntie, ticking off youngsters who are indulging in a spot of horseplay in the street.

Mrs Evely said: "For one reason or

another people do not like challenging anti-social behaviour so it often goes unchecked. I think anti-social behaviour is on the increase and the PCSOs being prepared to have a quiet word is just what is needed."

Wiltshire now has 48 PCSOs around the county. Each earns £18,000 a year, but costs £21,000 once National Insurance, training and the cost of the uniform is taken into account.

The PCSOs are here to stay and they will be on the increase if the Wiltshire Police Authority has anything to do with it.

The posts are currently funded jointly by the police authority and the Home Office, and funding is guaranteed to 2008 at least.

But there is a move within the force to approach local district, town and parish councils for a partnership into which they would be expected to inject a small amount of cash.

The percentage of the posts to be financed has not been spelled out but so far Warminster, Chippenham, Calne and Corsham town councils have agreed to contribute to the scheme.

Devizes Town Council is one of those which has not, although they have not discounted the possibility in future years.

Mrs Evely says it is not just the money that is important, but the commitment and the feeling that the local PCSOs are part of the community.

She said: "The question is, does Wiltshire want to be proactive? Do the individual communities value the PCSO network and want to see it expand?

"The Government is not going to offer Wiltshire more PCSOs on a plate. Communities around the county are going to have to show that they want them."