Vacancy Information
Division / Department - North Surrey Division
Status - Full Time or Happy to Talk Flexible Working
Contract Type - Permanent
Rank - Police Constable
Location - Staines
The Role
Applications are invited from substantive Police Constables, for a PC post within the Northern HHPU based at Staines.
The department is responsible for managing registered sex offenders, in addition to an Integrated Offender Management cohort and those subject to ancillary orders such as Serious Crime Prevention Orders and Stalking Protection Orders.
This provides opportunities to proactively manage offenders in order to support diversion from offending.
The work itself is both varied and rewarding, and core working times coincide with our partner agencies (Mon - Fri), with a degree of flexibility.
Here are some comments from officers on our team to give you a further idea of what the role entails:
"HHPU gives me the chance to be proactive and target people. I get to use all the tools in the box - overt and covert – to manage offenders. The job is a little bit of everything; Intel gathering, investigation, management and prosecuting people. You are following your coppers nose when you think there is something not quite right, putting in the work and getting a result"
"This is suspect/offender focused work. This is a job role that allows you to really know the offenders at a level you wouldn't get elsewhere, working out whether what they are telling you is true, and testing this information. I find I am motivated to want find breaches, and I want to get offenders arrested for further offences I uncover. This provides real job satisfaction – we manage the riskiest people in society, and this really makes me feel my contributions are valuable. There is also a good work life balance which is important"
To try and dispel some potential myths as well, we do not just have friendly chats with offenders; our offender managers build expertise to enable extraction of relevant information from visits as above, to identify further offending. Additionally, officers are not routinely exposed to IIOC as part of their day to day enquiries.
The department can also provide a number of training opportunities; all officers will become MOSOVO accredited, and furthermore examination of internet enabled devices is a key area of our work so again there are opportunities to gain additional training in this area.
Key Responsibilities
1. To undertake a risk assessment of all Registered Sex Offenders (including potentially dangerous offenders) and IOM nominals in order to professionally assess and monitor their current threat levels and to formulate an effective individual Risk Management Plan designed to mitigate identified risks.
2. To regularly visit and proactively monitor registered sex offenders in order to assess whether the identified risk changes. This includes maintaining a good knowledge and understanding of technology used by offenders and monitoring where appropriate their online behaviour, by installing approved software to their devices.
3. To undertake assessments (IOM Matrix) and provide interventions (7 pathways) as appropriate in order to reduce offending.
4. To work closely with and prepare individual reports to assist in the decision making of agencies including the CPS, Courts, Probation Service, Local Authority Housing Teams, Housing Providers, Drug Treatment Agencies and the Benefits Agency.
5. To advise colleagues within other policing teams of High Harm Offenders within their areas, and to formulate briefing slides and trigger plans where necessary.
6. To actively support and assist other officers in the Safeguarding Investigation Unit and Criminal Investigation Department as appropriate, including research of ViSOR and assist others to appropriately seek relevant Orders through the Force Solicitor and the Courts
Skills & Experience
7. Good interpersonal skills in order to communicate at all levels.
8. To demonstrate tact and understanding and be able to discuss sensitive matters openly.
9. Is able to demonstrate an innovative, flexible and enthusiastic approach to a developing area of police work within the HHPU.
10. The ability to produce clear, accurate reports and correspondence including those for CPS, Court, probation service and other agencies involved in the management of offenders.
11. The ability to set priorities and manage time effectively, working with the minimum of supervision.
12. Good working knowledge of digital media, in particular the ability to operate devices, completion of Charter submissions and comprehension of DFT reports.
In addition, it would be desirable, although not essential, for the successful candidate to have a reasonable level of understanding of technology as a result of a large part of our RSOs being 'online' offenders and thus digital triage of devices are often undertaken.