Name: Daniel Salter
Full time occupation: Senior Information Systems Support Officer
Joined as a Special in: March 2006
Became a Special because: Dan already works for Sussex Police, and having seen the work that regular officers do, he decided he’d like to get involved, but without having to sacrifice his existing career.
Policing area: Brighton & Hove
Best thing about being a Special: "The flexibility of hours, the ability to choose which work you carry out and the daily challenges the role presents."

Specials are only required to work four hours per week, but Dan enjoys the role so much, he often exceeds this. Although he has a fulltime job, he still finds time to devote about eight hours a week to his second occupation as a Special.

"That’s the beauty of being a Special Constable – you can have the best of both worlds. No two days are the same – but they’re always challenging, full and rewarding,” Dan explains, “And I can work as little or much as I like to fit in around my other commitments”.

All in a days work

We profiled Dan on one of his shifts to find out what a typical day in the life of a Special involves.

A weekday shift, late September…

9am: Today is an exceptional day for Dan. He usually begins his shift early afternoon and works for about eight hours, but today he’s in court at 9am to give evidence for an incident he dealt with some weeks before.

“The court room is an exciting place,” Dan explains. “It’s the final part in the journey for justice for many investigations”.

Court cases can be unpredictable and last for as long as is needed. This one proves to be an interesting one for Dan and he’s pleased with the result when he’s dismissed at 1pm.

1pm: Dan makes his way to the station to catch up with his colleagues and see what work he’ll be doing today. It’s a crisp but sunny day, so when his Sergeant asks him to do some foot patrol around some of Brighton’s problem areas, he’s more than happy to.

As with all towns and cities, there are certain places where crime is higher and having a visible policing presence here can help to improve things for the community. “On foot, you can talk to people and engage with them,” Dan explains. “It’s a great way to proactively police and you often see a lot more on foot than you would through a car window”.

On his journey into town, Dan drops into some of the local shops who have reported trouble with youths in the past. Offering a friendly and familiar face gives these local businesses a sense of protection and community. "Building up a relationship with the community is an important part of the job," Dan cites.

1.30pm: Down at ‘The Level’ in Brighton, Dan checks the areas that are frequented by street drinkers, graffiti artists and antisocial behaviour. It’s fairly quiet and aside from a few children who are waiting to be collected by their parents, there isn’t many people around.

“I popped over and had a quick chat with the children,” recalls Dan. "I checked they were okay and made sure they weren’t being hassled by any street-drinkers. It’s great to be able to engage with the younger generation and it’s good to get their opinion on local issues too.”

It’s not long until Dan is called upon though. He’s approached by an intoxicated woman who asks for help. She has an alcohol problem and is confused and distressed but cooperative. He calms her down and there doesn’t appear to be a specific problem. Although she refuses to let Dan assist her in getting home, he decides that she has calmed down enough that he can leave her to her business and continue with his patrol, having reported back to base.

2pm: He continues his journey through the busier part of the town where he bumps into a local security guard

"The local security guards are good people to be in touch with," says Dan. "They know many of the shop-lifters and criminals in the area and are always happy to share intelligence".

As he continues his patrol, Dan is approached by a cabbie who pulls over to report some unruly and intoxicated people at a nearby bus stop. On foot, Dan is able to get there quickly and he swiftly turns around and makes his way there. Within minutes he’s at the bus-stop where he’s able to diffuse the situation that has broken out between some known street-drinkers. He issues a Section 27 Notice, which means they must leave the area immediately.

2.30pm: Dan gets a radio call to say that the distressed woman who he met earlier has since been reported missing. He immediately returns to the area where he last saw her and searches. While searching the public toilets he comes across a young man and woman in a cubicle. After asking them to step out of the cubicle he asks them what they were doing. She reports to be in pain and tells Dan she’s pregnant. The man claims to have been comforting her.

Dan calls her an ambulance and while they’re waiting for it, he runs a Police National Computer check on the couple as he suspects there might be more to their story than they’re letting on. "Intelligence came back and confirmed my suspicions," he says. "The pair are prolific shoplifters and drug-users – well known to the area."

He carries out a stop-check and search on the man and thoroughly searches the cubicle for any traces of drug use or criminal activity.

2.40pm: The ambulance arrives and Dan decides to escort them to the local hospital as he’s interested to know what else he can find out about the pair. By the time they arrive at the hospital, he’s been able to log the information he’s gathered, which could prove vital for future investigations.

3.30pm: Dan makes his way back to the police station in time for a quick cuppa and to meet a fellow Special who he has planned to carry out some warrants with.

"Warrents are issued by the court for the arrest of a wanted person," explains Dan. "They can be quite time consuming so if Specials are able to help with these, it can really help out the regular officers".

4pm: The pair plan the work load and get a police van ready. The first three addresses they go to have no answer and on route to the fourth they have to stop off to deal with some vehicles that are parked in a dangerous place.

6pm: When they get to their final warrant address, they find the man they’re looking for. They search him and find a bankcard in his pocket which doesn’t belong to him. "This could prove to be a crucial piece of evidence for another case," Dan explains. He arrests the man, handcuffs him and escorts him into the van to take him to the custody suite at Hollingbury. Here the custody sergeant authorises his detention and he will attend court in the morning. After a final full search, the man is put in a cell for the night.

8.30pm: Dan clears up the relevant paperwork for the case. He creates an arrest statement and cancels the man as ‘wanted’. This takes a while and Dan has a well earned cup of tea and something to eat.

9.00pm: Dan heads back to the police station, giving a couple of fellow officers a lift on route.

He drops off the van and leaves the office just in time to catch the 9.55pm bus home. His shift as a Special has finished for the day but he’ll be back next week ready for another dose of excitement, challenges and results.

Later that week, Dan found out that the distressed woman who he had talked to and who had been reported missing had been reunited with her family and had been admitted to hospital to get the help she needed to deal with her alcohol problem.

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