RELEVANT
FOCUSED
READY

Volunteering with a Community Policing Centre
Sayk’pru Say

Introduction
Volunteers play a crucial role in addressing the complex challenges
that the police face, such as improving public trust, enhancing their
relationship with local communities, and police legitimacy. O’Connor
and Pepper (2024) proclaim that “volunteers are seen as a bridge
between local communities and policing, enhancing the services’ local
legitimacy.” This is well said because the police need the collaboration
from the community members to strengthen public trust, enhance their
relationship, and promote public safety and quality of life for everyone
within the community. Volunteers are the backbone of a successful and
reputable Community Policing Centre because they create a positive
impact and are determined to make a difference in the respective
community.
This study is guided by Sir Robert Peel’s nine principles,
particularly the principle of the Police are the Public and the Public are
the Police. This study uses secondary data analysis from a variety of
previous research to find answers to the main question: what are the
principal determinants associated with volunteering with a Community
Policing Centre? Three sub-questions will be considered and/or
addressed: Who volunteers? How beneficial is it to volunteer at
Community Policing Centres? What are the volunteer perceptions of
volunteering within a police service? This study is significant as it
highlights the main determinants associated with volunteering with a
Community Policing Centre or within a police service, and it provides
invaluable recommendations for people to volunteer with a
Community Policing Centre or in their respective Community Policing
Centre.

Figure 1
Example Figure Demonstrating the Results from Blumberg et al.

https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=c366c0ec-0131-4d64-b4e0-855da4d0e551%40redis

Discussion

Background
The need for better understanding of the main determinants
associated with volunteering with a Community Policing Centre is
vital. There is a lack of research on volunteers with Community Police
Centres in Canada to provide evidence based on volunteer feelings,
attitudes and challenges associated with volunteering with a
Community Policing Centre. Volunteers are the backbone of change as
they can significantly influence the changes in policing and in the
communities.

Methods
This study uses secondary research design and collects data by
using secondary data analysis techniques. The three sub-questions and
Sir Robert Peel’s nine principles guide the data collection and analysis
process. In addition, thematic analysis is used to generate themes. The
following databases are used for the search: JIBC Library, Criminal
Abstracts with Full Text (CJA), OpenDissertations, and Google
Scholar.
The main limitations of this study are data and time. The
limitations to this study include the lack of research on the topic and
databases not available or need to be purchased to review data. Sources
for this study are not limited to peer-reviewed data because of the lack
of time to collect information and the lack of qualitative studies,
especially in Canada. The lack of qualitative studies result in a limited
evaluation of the volunteer perceptions and attitudes toward the
Community Policing Centres and the police. Although secondary
sources are limited, self-selection influenced the data collection
process.

Results
Researchers who study motivation have found several reasons why
people volunteer. People volunteer due to intrinsic motivation, finding
their volunteer work fulfilling and enjoyable and/or due to extrinsic
motivation, finding volunteer work for a reward or an external benefit.
According to Blumberg et al. (2020), younger volunteers tend to be
motivated by learning new skills, career opportunities, adding
volunteer work to their resume, and exposure to new experiences.
Older volunteers are most likely motivated by a desire to stay active, to
cultivate friendships, and to avoid feeling isolated. In addition, they
conduct their study based on six factors: values, understanding, social,
protective, enhancement, and career as demonstrated in Figure 1.
Research proves that one’s quality of life is made better by
volunteering (Blumberg et al., 2020). Some of the generated themes
that demonstrate this include trust, change, and relationship.
1. Trust: According to Britton and Knight (2022), there is a

Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies

growing interest in police volunteerism to enhance trust. Volunteering
at a community policing center requires trust in the programs,
believing that the programs are effective, appropriate, and reliable. It
enhances the public’s trust in the programs and the police.
2. Change: Change by creating a positive impact, promoting a safe
environment and strengthening the quality of life for everyone.
Volunteering opens opportunities to be more involved in the
community, creating change and encouraging others to volunteer as
well, making a positive impact in the community.
3. Relationship: Volunteering enhances the relationship between the
volunteers and the police and strengthens the relationship between the
community and the police department.

This study aims to begin reviewing the literature and transfer the
data into practice as there is a lack of study on the volunteer
perceptions within Community Policing Centres. Through a thorough
literature review, the results can aid in encouraging future researchers
to conduct more research studies in volunteer perceptions towards
volunteering with a Community Policing Centre. Volunteers are
essential in supporting individuals who seek assistance, guidance, and
resources at Community Policing Centres. Every volunteer upholds
their principal determinants and perception towards volunteering with
a Community Policing Centre or within a police service. Furthermore,
every community is unique, requiring the police and the community
members to collaborate to strengthen trust, enhance their relationship,
and promote safety and quality of life for all persons.

Recommendations
Community members play a critical role and therefore, they are
encouraged to get involved within their respective Community
Policing Centres or within a police service to enhance trust between
the police and the community, strengthen their connections with the
police, and be involved in maintaining quality police legitimacy.
This study can aid future researchers to further explore the
principal determinants associated with volunteering with a Community
Policing Centre or within a police service. This study hopes to provide
evidence that further research is needed to build evidence base on
volunteer attitudes, feelings, and challenges associated with
volunteering with a Community Policing Centre or within a police
service. Future researchers can conduct primary research using a
purposeful sample or random sample to better understand volunteer
perceptions. Furthermore, future researchers can conduct primary
research studies specifically into Community Policing Centres’ core
programs to further expand the knowledge and understanding of the
principal determinants associated with volunteering.

References
Blumberg, D.M., Nardone, D. & Giromini, L. (2020). The motivation
of senior volunteers in law enforcement. Journal of Behavioral &
Social Sciences, 7(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/2375-8899
Britton, I. & Knight, L. (2022). Citizens in policing’: Exploring the
role and impact of volunteering in law enforcement. Journal of
Policy & Practice, 15(4), 2047-2052.
http://doi.org/10.1093/police/paaa051
O’Connor, C.D. & Pepper, I. (2024). Opportunities for volunteering
within Canadian policing: Insights from England and Wales.
Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 9(3), 116-118.
http://doi.org/10.35502/jcswb.386

Justice Institute of British Columbia

Mar. 2025