Seven years after they were introduced, there are now 16,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) walking the “beat”, costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds per year. Filming with PCSOs at work on the streets of Lancashire, Dispatches investigates whether PCSOs have proven to be a policing success story or an expensive mistake. Featuring interviews with the officers themselves, an exclusive survey of more than 1,000 PCSOs, and information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Dispatches uncovers widespread confusion over their role, both among the public and within the police service itself.

Monday 21 September 2009
8:00pm, Channel 4