Special Constabularies are a force of volunteers who receive training from their local police force to work with and offer support to regular police officers.

Special Constables, who give at least 4 hours of their time a week, are a vital link between the regular (full-time) police and their local community.

Specials most often do their minimum four hours a week in a single shift, but the working hours are flexible - and you can give us more time if you can spare it.

Specials have the same powers as a regular officer and wear a similar uniform. Specials are usually asked to spend some of their weekends training at first, followed by regular evening and update sessions working through the national training package. You'll gain a thorough grounding in many aspects of police work before you are expected to carry out any police duties, and your training will include:

• learning about the police service and the duties of a police officer
• powers of arrest
• common crimes
• how to prepare your evidence for court
• self-defence
• techniques for dealing with awkward situations or people.

Volunteers for the Special Constabulary come from all walks of life. You may be at home, or bringing up a family, or in full or part-time employment as a teacher, a taxi-driver, an accountant, a photographer or in any one of a wide variety of jobs. The diverseness of the Special Constabulary helps the police service to be representative of the communities they serve.

Many specials often carry on to one day join as regular police officers or PCSOs and becoming a special can give you the insight you need to maybe rethink your career. However, being a Special is recognised as a position in its own right and many people make a career here. If you do decide on a paid policing career at a later date, we would normally expect you to have worked for a total of at least two years as a Special before you go on to become a police officer or PCSO. This will ensure that you can make good use of the extensive training you will have undertaken. And of course, the experience you will have gained along the way will help you to apply for a paid position if that becomes your chosen career path. Many specials happily volunteer alongside their regular job for many years and fit it in around their other commitments. As you would expect, some careers are incompatible with being a Special Constable, such as those which involve you holding a liquor licence or certain security officer licences. Please call us for guidance if you think this might apply to you.

You will require the same characteristics as a regular and it would be beneficial to read through the information in our regulars recruitment section.

You can also look through the rest of our specials section where you will find information on the training weekends, the support offered on the job and other important aspects, such as working within the community.

IMPORTANT - Before calling the recruiting team you must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• You MUST be between 18 and 55 years old at the time of your application.
• You MUST be living in Sussex.
• You MUST have NO cautions or convictions. Applicants must NOT have any bindovers or fixed-penalty notices.
• You MUST have been living in the UK continuously for the last three years prior to this application.
• You MUST NOT have an application outstanding with another force.
• If you have previously been rejected you MUST have let six months pass before re-applying.