The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of statutory police forces in the United Kingdom and some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as special constables.
Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a special constabulary except the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which has a Reserve constituted on different grounds. However, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (and the previous Royal Irish Constabulary) did have its own Ulster Special Constabulary from 1920 until 1970, when the Reserve was formed. The British Transport Police (a national "special police force") also has a special constabulary. In the Crown dependencies, the Isle of Man Constabulary and the States of Guernsey Police Service also have special constabularies, but the States of Jersey Police does not. Jersey has Honorary Police.
As of 31 March 2026, there were 5,196 special constables belonging to territorial police forces in England and Wales. The number of special constables in Scotland in 2018 was 610.
Special constables are not the same as police community support officers (PCSOs), who are employed by police forces to provide operational support to regular officers. Special constables usually work for a minimum number of hours per month (depending on the force – the national minimum is 16 hours), although many do considerably more. Special constables might receive some expenses and allowances from the police service, including a £1,100 "recognition award" in Scotland and some forces in England, but their work is in the main voluntary and unpaid.
Special constables have identical powers to their regular (full-time) colleagues and work alongside them, but most special constabularies in England and Wales have their own organisational structure and grading system, which varies from force to force. Special constabularies are headed by a chief officer. In Scotland, special constables have no separate administrative structure and grading system.
History While the idea of a populace policing itself dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, with the Statute of Winchester requiring that all citizens have the legal obligation to come to the assistance of a police officer. The Poor Relief Act 1662 (14 Cha. 2. c. 12) was the first legislation to cover the concept of special constables, permitting magistrates to appoint temporary constables.
In 1819, mass meetings calling for parliamentary reform took place across England, including 60,000 demonstrators rioting in Manchester where a special constable was killed. In light of these events, the Appointment of Special Constables Act 1820 (1 Geo. 4. c. 37) was passed allowing magistrates to recruit men as special constables, a term it used to replace the earlier 'temporary constables'.
Parliament passed the Special Constables Act 1831 (1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 41), which forms the basis of special-constable principles to the modern day, and in particular allowed the formation of special constables outside of times of unrest, if the regular police force was deemed to be too small in a particular area. Specials were also granted full powers of arrest like their regular counterparts at this time, as well as weapons and equipment to carry out their duty.
The Special Constables Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 43) redefined the Special Constabulary as a volunteer organisation, and expanded its jurisdiction. The constabulary was redefined for the last time into the organisation which exists today by the Special Constables Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 61) just after the outbreak of World War I, during which they safeguarded water supplies from German infiltrators. During the Second World War, besides their normal duties, they were trained to deal with a range of eventualities such as first aid in case of injury, initial coordination of the security of aircraft crash sites, clearing people from the vicinity of unexploded bombs, handling of unignited incendiary bombs and checking compliance with lighting regulations.
Authority Under Section 27 of the Police Act 1996, chief constables may appoint special constables for that police area:
Under Section 29 of the act, all special constables (and police constables) shall be attested as a constable, once appointed, by a justice of the peace:
Application
Requirements for being a special constable vary from force to force. The recruitment process in Scotland is also significantly different from the process in England and Wales. It can take from as few as six to as many as eighteen months from initial application through to attestation where recruits take the police oath. A number of different steps are involved in the recruitment process and the order can vary from force to force. The first part of the process usually involves completing an application form.
After that, there may be a combination of entrance test (the Police Initial Recruitment Test in England and Wales or the Standard Entrance Test in Scotland), interview, security checks, fitness test and medical assessment although the exact process is force specific.
Ranks
There are currently a total of nine ranks currently in use across the special constabularies. Some of these ranks are rarely in use and special constabularies rarely use more than six ranks. The "NPIA" style rank insignia have a set of only seven ranks. There is no basis in law for ranks or grades for special constables. As such there is no equivalency of a regular police sergeant versus a special police sergeant for example. A special constable who is a higher rank or grade has no additional powers or opportunities in the same way as a regular officer. For example, a custody sergeant must be a regular police sergeant.
A special inspector cannot authorise a section 18(1) PACE search and so on. In an operational setting, a special constable whatever their rank or grade has no formal authority over a regular officer in terms of supervision, although occasionally a very experienced senior special officer may informally temporarily oversee inexperienced regular officers. Special constabulary ranksStylesOfficersChief officers"Bar" style ranksSpecial constableSpecial sergeantSpecial inspectorSpecial chief inspectorSpecial superintendentSpecial chief superintendentAssistant chief officerDeputy chief officerChief officer"NPIA" style ranksNo equivalent Only Cheshire Special Constabulary, Durham Special Constabulary and Cleveland Special Constabulary use the rank of special chief superintendent.
Within the City of London Special Constabulary is the Honourable Artillery Company Specials, provided by the Honourable Artillery Company;The HAC Special Constabulary website members of this unit wear HAC on the shoulders in addition to other insignia.
Insignia There is a large variation in the design of epaulettes used across Great Britain for special constables. This has been recognised at national level and as part of the Special Constabulary National Strategy 2018-2023 the structure and insignia is under review with the intention to standardise.
Special constabulary epaulettes frequently bear the letters "SC" (with or without a crown above) to differentiate them from regular officers. Senior special constables wear the same markings on their hats as equivalent regular ranks.
Other special constabularies use combinations of bars, half bars, pips, crowns, laurel wreaths, collar numbers, force crests and the SC identity (with or without a crown) to distinguish ranks (and/or role).
Police Scotland are the only force to not have a rank structure, and special constables are line managed by regular sergeants.
Wiltshire Special Constabulary has special constable section leaders (SCSLs) strategically located around the county, but no other ranks.
Police Scotland plans to experiment with a limited management role in some divisions.
Uniform
Special constables generally wear identical uniforms to their regular colleagues.
Collar Numbers In some constabularies, their collar/shoulder number may be prefixed with a certain digit or they may have additional insignia on their epaulettes which is usually a crown with the letters ‘SC’ above or below it (although some forces just use the letters).
For example, in Avon and Somerset Police, special constables do not wear any ‘SC’ insignia and are indistinguishable from a police constable. All Avon and Somerset Constabulary specials' collar numbers start with a "5".
Headgear Formerly, male special constables in English and Welsh forces did not wear helmets while on foot patrol but wore patrol caps instead, but in most forces they now do wear helmets. Some forces also issue special constables with a different hat badge from that of their regular counterparts although this is now extremely rare.
Equipment Special constables all carry the same personal protective equipment (PPE) as their regular counterparts, such as handcuffs, batons, incapacitant spray (CS/PAVA spray), and protective vests.
The issuing of equipment varies from force to force with financial factors being the main reason behind the differences. In some forces protective vests, or body armour, may be personally issued to an officer, made to measure, however many other forces cannot afford this practice and instead the use of pool sets is prevalent.
The same practice is also seen with regard to radios: although many forces provide special constables with personal radios kept securely at their police station, other forces may only have pool sets. The management task is to ensure there are enough working pooled radios available in a command area to meet any "surge" need.
On 19 May 2022, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that special constables would be able to carry tasers. Prior to this, special constables were not issued or trained to operate tasers. The British Transport Police became the first force to issues tasers to special constables on 27 May 2022, starting a group of 22. Whilst not lawfully excluded from doing so, specials do not carry firearms due to enhanced vetting and the training commitments required.
Powers and jurisdiction
Territorial police forces The vast majority of special constables serve with one of the 45 territorial police forces in the United Kingdom. Depending on where they are attested, they have full police powers throughout one of three distinct legal systems - either England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. This is identical to the jurisdiction granted to regular officers, although prior to 1 April 2007, special constables in England and Wales only had jurisdiction within their force area and any adjacent force areas. Recent changes have seen special constables enjoy the same cross-border powers as regular constables.
British Transport Police
See Also: British Transport Police Special Constabulary
Special constables of the British Transport Police have exactly the same powers and privileges as regular BTP constables, and the same cross-border powers. BTP special constables do not wear the distinctive "SC" insignia on their epaulettes. They work across England, Wales and Scotland and will often parade on at their home station and work 40 to 80 miles away from it.
Duties
As well as patrol duties, special constables often take part in response duties and specials often police events such as sports matches, carnivals, parades and fêtes. While this event policing is the stereotypical image of a special constable, it only represents one of the wide range of duties undertaken. Many police forces in England and Wales have introduced neighbourhood policing teams and the Special Constabulary has been incorporated into this concept.Commitment to the Community, Specials magazine published by Story Worldwide for the Home Office (Summer 2006)
Special operations