Volunteers

Want to get involved with your community and help serve the people in it? Why not consider becoming a Police Support Volunteer with Sussex Police.

Volunteering is fun and challenging and offers a unique opportunity to develop your skills and experiences, try things you've always wanted to do and learn more about how the Force works. Plus, you'll be rewarded with a diverse and supportive environment that can bring personal benefits and a huge sense of community involvement.

Police Support Volunteers are extremely important to the Force - helping to develop Neighbourhood Policing and, therefore, helping Sussex Police engage and interact more effectively with local communities.

We advertise all of our volunteer roles as and when they become available. If there are no current vacancies but you would like to know more about volunteering please contact the Force Neighbourhood Watch and Volunteer Manager, Mark Rendall on 101, ext 40111.

What to expect

The Sussex Police Support Volunteer Programme was launched in January 2009, with the aim of encouraging individuals to 'Get Involved' and serve their community by becoming a volunteer.

We currently have over 100 Volunteers who assist in Police stations across the county in a range of roles. We hope to increase these numbers by welcoming you to the team.

All kinds of people volunteer, across a wide age range, with a variety of different backgrounds, skills and life experiences. Basically, a Volunteer is a non-uniformed member of the community who assists at police stations or administrative centres, conducting a variety of roles from speed watch or horse watch, through a range of clerical roles to cleaning and checking police vehicles.

The pressures on a modern police force are enormous and there is always more that could be done. One of the many successful roles which Volunteers are performing is the staffing of rural police stations, dealing with enquiries and calling back members of the public and letting them know the result of their call. This provides reassurance and helps build public confidence in the Police.

The role of a Volunteer is designed to enhance the work of the police and provide additional support in the area where the Volunteer lives or works. This is even more crucial now with the introduction of Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT's).

NPT's are about local policing; police and partners working with the community, to identify and tackle issues of concern within your neighbourhood.

One of Sussex Police's objectives is to have local volunteers working with NPT's carrying out various roles. This will ensure that NPT officers benefit from their local knowledge in addition to the skills and experience they also bring with them.

Volunteers play an important role in assisting police officers and staff who are then able to concentrate on core policing duties. As a result there are more officers on the streets and improved community support.

Read our Volunteer FAQs.

Current Vacancies

Southwater Community Police Office

Volunteer Independent Custody Visitors

Community Resolution volunteers

Lewes NWA Search Team

North Sussex Search Team

West Downs Search Team

Sussex Search and Rescue

Lowland Search Dogs