Special constable


A special constable or special police constable can refer either to an auxiliary or part-time law enforcement officer; or a person who is granted certain police powers.
In some jurisdictions, police forces are complemented by a special constabulary, whose volunteer members have full police powers and hold the office of constable. In other jurisdictions, specifically Canada and parts of Australia, special constables are sworn peace officers granted police powers to enforce specific legislation in a distinct context or geographic area. Historically, and in different contexts, special constables have been paid or volunteer members of an ad-hoc reserve force or a permanent auxiliary, and have ranged from unarmed patrols to armed paramilitaries.

Australia

New South Wales

In the Australian state of New South Wales, special constables can now only be appointed by the NSW Police Commissioner. Previously, to augment the NSW Police but also to protect the community against abuse or neglect by the NSW Police, Special Constables could be appointed by a magistrate or two justices where "tumult, riot, or serious indictable offence has taken place, or may be reasonably apprehended" and the magistrate or justices believe that "the ordinary constables or officers appointed for preserving the peace are not sufficient for the preservation of the peace, and for the protection of the inhabitants and the security of their property, or for the apprehension of offenders". Special constables were appointed under the Police Act 1901 and had the same powers as constables of the NSW Police.
In South Australia, community constables are recruited by South Australia Police to serve the Indigenous Australian communities. Working alongside police officers, the Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander community constable help to run a wide range of programs.

Other

State police stationed near their state borders are sometimes assigned the status of special constable in the neighbouring state to allow hot pursuit of offenders across state borders and lawful arrest on the other side.

Canada

In Canada, a special constable is a sworn peace officer granted police powers to enforce specific legislation or provide police services to a distinct context or geographic area. They are generally unarmed, and while some special constables possess full police powers while on duty, others have extremely limited authority. Special constables can be employed by universities, government corporations like transit commissions and bridge authorities, police forces, municipalities, First Nations, and humane societies.
Historically, special constables in Canada were used on an ad-hoc basis to serve summons, provide paid temporary augmentation to a police force, or provide specialized security police services. During the Winnipeg General Strike, Winnipeg police officers refused to sign an anti-union pledge and were promptly dismissed, replaced with special constables with the express mission of ending the strike.
Although special constables are increasingly used for routine frontline policing in every province and territory, the regulatory framework for special constables across Canada has generally continued to assume that special constables are used for rare and unusual circumstances. In most of Canada, for example, special constables generally do not need to unilaterally meet the stringent training and service standards that police services do, and outside of Alberta and Manitoba, the regulation of special constabularies and other special constable employers is undertaken on a case-by-case basis by either the provincial government or regional police commissions.
In Alberta, special constables are referred to as peace officers and must meet unilateral regulations similar to those of police services. Although community peace officers in Alberta can be employed by a range of organizations, their powers, appearance, and training are the same provincewide, regardless of their employer or specific mandate.
Volunteers with provincial and municipal police services in Canada are called reserve or auxiliary constables.

Federal

Special constables employed by the federal government are usually granted limited police powers for the purposes of civil law enforcement, such as investigators for the Competition Bureau and Transport Canada.
Starting in 2016, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police began to hire "community constables," who are armed special constables responsible for carrying out a variety of policing activities in their home community, with an emphasis on crime reduction and prevention through patrols or visits to schools and workplaces. Special constables were also historically employed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as interpreters, guides, and aides in Indigenous communities in northern Canada.
Federal police officers or federally-authorized police officers are sometimes cross-appointed as special constables, in addition to their appointment as federal police officers, enabling them to enforce provincial legislation.

Alberta

Special constables in Alberta are referred to as peace officers.
Peace officers are used extensively in Alberta as part of the province's tiered approach to police service delivery. Municipalities can employ community peace officers — who can enforce provincial regulations, respond to calls for emergency service, and receive use-of-force equipment and training — or municipal compliance officers, who are limited to the reactive enforcement of municipal or corporate by-laws and generally do not receive use-of-force equipment or training. Universities, transit systems, First Nations, and private animal protection agencies can also employ community peace officers.
Peace officers also compose the Alberta Sheriffs Branch, which is responsible for legislative and courtroom security, prisoner transport, highway safety, wildlife and conservation enforcement, and some criminal investigations. Officers of the Branch have full police powers, including the ability to enforce the Criminal Code, and carry firearms.

British Columbia

In the province of British Columbia, members of the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Service, Conservation Officer Service, Legislative Security Service, and Sheriff Service are appointed as special constables under the province's Police Act, and are responsible for enforcing specific provincial and federal laws, including certain Criminal Code offences.
Some municipal police forces also employ special constables as part of a tiered police service delivery model. These special constables are typically used for traffic control, crime scene management, and low-risk emergency call response.
In 2014, the Independent Investigations Office, which is responsible for investigating incidents involving police and peace officers that result in serious injury or death, entered into a memorandum of understanding with all of the agencies which use special constables across British Columbia on the scope and proceedings of IIO investigations and the IIO's access to special constabulary records, formalizing the ability of the Office to investigate special constables and special constabularies.

Quebec

In Quebec, special constables are peace officers. Their mission is to maintain peace, order and public security, to prevent and repress crime and, according to the jurisdiction specified in their deeds of appointment, to enforce the law and municipal by-laws, and to apprehend offenders. Special Constables employed by the Ministry of public safety have full police powers and are armed.

Ontario

In Ontario, special constables generally have full police powers and can be employed by police services, which are maintained by municipalities, or special constabularies, which can be maintained by transit agencies, public housing corporations, parks authorities, and universities.
Special constables employed by police forces are generally tasked with courtroom security, offender transportation, and overseeing holding cells, but since the late 2010s, an increasing number of Ontario police services employ special constables in frontline policing roles. The municipal police force in Brantford, Ontario employs special constables to provide foot patrols in the city's downtown core, while the police service in Cobourg has used special constables for beach patrols, downtown patrols, traffic collision investigations, and other duties since 2018. Other police forces use special constables to investigate traffic collisions, collect evidence, or manage emergency or crime scenes.
In addition to police services, any organization can request authorization from a local police services board — a commission governing police and law enforcement services for each local or regional municipality in the province — to raise a special constabulary for the purposes of providing police services on or in relation to the authorized organization's land or mandate. Organizations which operate across the jurisdictions of several independent police services boards, such as GO Transit, usually receive special constabulary authorization directly from the provincial government. Other organizations, such as the University of Toronto, which maintains three semi-independent campuses across the jurisdiction of two separate police services boards, receive authorization from each individual police services board.
Since 2018, special constabularies in the province have been prohibited from referring to themselves as police services, with the exception of the Niagara Parks Police Service, an armed special constabulary of the Niagara Parks Commission. Previously, special constabularies maintained by universities were usually referred to as campus or community police.