Volunteer Street Patrols: responsibilised and motivated volunteering in community safety

Westall, Adam (2021) Volunteer Street Patrols: responsibilised and motivated volunteering in community safety. Safer Communities, 20 (1). pp. 31-41. ISSN 1757-8043

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Abstract

Purpose- This paper aims to contribute towards our knowledge and understanding of volunteers who work within community safety and pluralised policing. Through the increased responsibilisation of communities and individuals, volunteers are taking to the streets to help others who are in need and support the community safety infrastructure. The example of volunteer street patrols is used to explore the actions of volunteers, the motivations of individuals that participate in a street patrol and what this means for the local delivery of community safety. Design/methodology/approach- This research is drawn from ethnographic research, consisting of 170 hours of participant observation on the streets of a northern UK city - Manchester, supported with 24 semi-structured interviews with volunteers who participate in a street patrol and those that work alongside them. Findings- Using a three paradigms perspective for volunteer motivations, the themes: altruism, civil connection and volunteering for leisure are applied to explore volunteer motivations. Through their actions, volunteers in the street patrol are motivated volunteers who can offer an additional and important resource within the local community safety and pluralised policing infrastructure. Originality - The findings highlight volunteer street patrols offer a caring and supportive function to people in need on the street. They are argued as responsibilised with an increased awareness of social problems, they are motivated individuals who wish to create and maintain safety and have a role to play within the policing of the night-time economy.