DORSET Police have expressed their thanks to special constables and volunteers on Volunteers' Week and National Specials Weekend.

This week is Volunteers' Week and the upcoming weekend, June 6-7 is National Specials Weekend. Dorset Police's 136 police support volunteers in 42 different roles are being thanked for giving up over 9,000 hours of their time since April 2019. Volunteers support the force in a variety of capacities, ranging from animal welfare to neighbourhood engagement, and CCTV operatives to victim support.

In the same period, the force's 126 Special Constables have contributed over 24,000 hours helping tackle crime in their local area, supporting regular officers by going out on patrol and engaging with the communities.

Assistant Chief Constable Julie Fielding said: "It is a great privilege to recognise and thank all volunteers for their endless energy and unwavering commitment that they give without any thought of personal recognition.

"I know you will all join me in expressing our gratitude to our volunteers and special constables for their incredible efforts, which help us engage and represent the community that we serve.

"As a mark of our thanks we would like to encourage you all to ‘cheer for our volunteers’ on Thursday 4 June in recognition of their continuous support and contributions to the Dorset Police family."

A large part of the work the police support volunteers are involved in is around engaging within the diverse communities that make up the country, including running the police cadet groups in Dorset.

For more information about joining the force as a volunteer, special constable or cadet leader, visit the Dorset Police website.