Rapid Response?

Brent Liberal Democrats have promised the Willesden and Brent Times that the PCSOs that Brent jointly pays for with the Police will be formed into a "rapid response force". This strikes me as rather strange.

Firstly PCSOs are not police officers. They have fewer powers and less training. What kind of situation would they rapidly respond to, and what duties would they be taken off as a result? Here in Kensal Green, one of our PCSOs is paid for through this scheme (Originally, we weren't going to get an extra PCSO, but this was changed after I raised it at a Forward Plan Committee, which may or may not have led to the change). Does that mean the Liberal Democrats will take away one of our local PCSOs for use elsewhere?

Secondly, what do the police think? PCSOs are under their operational command. Politicians, quite rightly can't order the police where to go or how to deploy their resources. Does the Borough Commander want to deploy them in this role rather than using his existing rapid response team of trained police officers? Would he prefer to use the PCSOs helping traffic enforcement in Harlesden Town Centre, say?

Have the Lib Dems bothered to ask him?