Employer supported policing (ESP) is a partnership between employers, their staff and Cambridgeshire Constabulary, to support and promote the Special Constabulary.

Through ESP, local businesses and other organisations work with Cambridgeshire Police to promote the Special Constabulary and to encourage staff to become Special Constables. And the scheme is extremely flexible too. We understand that all businesses are different, so we’ve developed a range of options for ESP. Each organisation can choose their level of involvement to suit their individual circumstances – from as little as putting up posters to promote the Special Constabulary within their organisation, to giving staff full time off for training and Special Constabulary duties.

ESP is a key 'marketable' enhancement to any corporate social responsibility programme for any employer. The positive publicity for such an innovative scheme can also be incredibly powerful for all concerned in showing an employer’s commitment to their staff and their customers, the public.

As well as making a direct contribution to policing in Cambridgeshire, a key benefit for an employer is police training for employees. All Special Constables receive in-depth training provided by Cambridgeshire Police, which includes a wide range of transferable skills including customer focus, problem solving, effective communication and team work which they then use in their usual job. Research reveals that it would cost companies £7,800 per employee to provide similar training.

In addition to the benefits previously mentioned, employers, especially retailers, can experience financial benefits from supporting their staff to become special constables. For example, in a pilot scheme run by the Metropolitan Police in Camden, retailers taking part in the scheme reported that store theft had halved and a substantial amount of credit card fraud was stopped, and stock loss in one store was reported to be down by 50%.