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Dawn Oaten: A special constable has the same powers as a regular officer. They have received the same training and taught the same legislation but they also have their day job.
Jan Richter: My name is Jan Richter. I'm 42 years old. I'm a graphic designer. And I'm a special constable.
The reason why I wanted to be a Special was because I wanted to give something back to the community and it was different to my day job.
It's really the variety of what you see day to day. No day is really the same.
I think the skills I learn as a special is to listen and I think it's great when I'm in presentations amongst sort of 20 to 30 people, I'm not phased by the amount of people that I'm talking to. I think being a special does makes me far more confident.
Dawn Oaten: All sorts of people can become special constables and they can bring their expertise and their experience from their day jobs into policing, and likewise learn lots of things from their police work that they can take back into their day job.
Stanley Pan: My name is Stanley Pan, I'm 31 and my day job is Cabin Crew. I have been a special constable since December 2008.
The reason why I wanted to become a special constable is because I like helping people and giving something back to the society, it is an extraordinary experience. I think people can recognise you, what you are doing, especially people when they find out you're a special and they really appreciate it because you are giving up your own time to serving your community and give them support and make yourself visible.
It is a great opportunity to meet colleagues from different backgrounds, have fun, and also it's a completely new skill from your day job.
Dawn Oaten: Special constables can get involved in every duty - they can work with Response teams, they can work with Safer Neighbourhood teams, Youth Engagement teams with children. They can do every duty a regular officer does.
Jennifer Williams: My name is Jennifer Williams, I'm doing my PhD and I have been a Special for 18 months. The best thing about being a special constable is that you do something different every day - it's challenging, it's exciting, it's fun and you get to meet great people.
Dawn Oaten: Special constables are taught a lot; they do Officer Safety Training, which is a form of self defence, they do Emergency Life Support, which teaches them CPR which they can take back to their families and their work place. And they also experience lots of different things and see things that they would never see unless they were a police officer.
Jennifer Williams: It's been a really busy evening. We made an arrest for some drugs crime on a local council estate. I'm just going to write up my notes for the rest of the day and then I think I'm going to head off.
Dawn Oaten: A special constable is required to work a minimum of 300 hours a year which equates to a minimum of 25 hours a month.
Stanley Pan: Every day I when I wake up I feel something great about me, at least I have helped make some difference.
Jennifer Williams: I think that the most rewarding thing is to be able to help people that most need you which are really the victims you meet when you are out on duty.
Jan Richter: You see people in sometimes such tragic situations and you see them at the end of the incident somehow being comforted by what you've done. I think that's just an amazing feeling and a great feeling to come home to.