Want to be a CJS Volunteer?

In this section of the website you will find out all you need to know about Justice Volunteers in Surrey; who they are, what they do and how you can help.

What is a 'Justice Volunteer'?
What opportunities are available?
How can I get involved?

What is a 'Justice Volunteer'?

Justice Volunteers give up their free time to work for one of the many agencies within the Criminal Justice System. They are unpaid, (apart from expenses in most cases) and take on the roles to meet new people, gain new experience and learn new skills. The Police, the Magistrate’s Court, the Prison Service, Victim Support and Witness Service and the Youth Justice Service all have Justice Volunteers working with them helping to successfully carry out justice in Surrey.

Volunteers are essential to the Criminal Justice System in Surrey - without them the system would cease to function, and would become estranged from the community it serves.

What opportunities are available?

In Surrey there are over 15 Justice Volunteer opportunities, all of which require different skills and knowledge. Each post is briefly explained below and if you’d like some more information just click on the link and you will be directed to a factsheet explaining in detail what each post requires.

How can I get involved?

If you decide you would like to become a Justice Volunteer you can either contact the person named on the bottom of each factsheet, or you can go down to your local volunteer centre where volunteer coordinators are on hand to answer all your questions and help you complete your application form.

  • Appropriate Adults (Police)
  • Independent Advisory Group members (Police)
  • Independent Custody Visitor (Police Authority)
  • Magistrates
  • Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator
  • Police Support Volunteers
  • Special Constables (Police)
  • Prison Chaplaincy Team (Prisons)
  • Independent Monitoring Board members (Prisons)
  • Prison Visitors
  • Independent Police Authority members
  • Victim Support Volunteers
  • Witness Service Volunteers
  • Mentors (Youth Justice Service)
  • Referral Panel members (Youth Justice Service)
Appropriate Adults

Giving young people in custody the support they need when a parent or guardian is not present
Appropriate Adults help young people, aged 16 or under, who are being held and interviewed in custody by police where a parent, guardian or social worker is not available. They help to ensure these young people know their rights, support them during their interview and the outcome, as well as supporting them through any identity parades, finger printing, and searches. They are sometimes asked to help adults with specific concerns such as language or learning difficulties, substance misuse, literacy problems, learning difficulties or sensory loss.

Independent Advisory Group (IAG) members – Surrey Police

Promoting community confidence by being a 'critical friend' to the police when dealing with incidents relating to minority groups
Independent Advisory Group (IAG) Members work closely with Surrey Police when dealing with major and/or critical incidents. They also help the Surrey Police Authority with public consultation, particularly where issues affect minority communities and groups. Members are chosen for the specialist skills, knowledge and links with particular minority groups or other specialist interests

Independent Custody Visitors (ICV) – Surrey Police

Authority ensuring people held in custody by the police are being properly treated
Independent custody visitors have a vital role in ensuring people's welfare. Together with another independent custody visitor the are asked to visit police stations unannounced to check on the treatment of people being held in custody

Magistrates

Trained to sit in criminal courts and dispense justice to the local community
Magistrates, also known as Justices of the Peace, are members of the local community who are appointed to sit in Magistrates’ Court to hear criminal and some civil cases. Generally Magistrates act as part of a group of three Magistrates, otherwise known as the Bench, and will have the power to issue sentences as required

Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator

Working with local police to promote crime reduction and to look out for vulnerable people within the community
Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) Coordinators communicate with their members in a number of ways. NHW schemes work with local police and local authority in order to make the community safer by reducing crime and the fear of crime. NHW groups can help address specific crime problems in the area with preventative action. Local police use the NHW groups as a conduit to communicate with the community, establish the issues that are affecting a particular area and work together to try and tackle them.

Police Support volunteers – Surrey Police

Assisting the police with day to day staffing of police station counters Police Support Volunteers assist the police by staffing the front counter at a local police station. All are issued with a force uniform and force identity as well as having similar responsibilities as a police officer in terms of data protection, human rights and more

Special Constables - Surrey Police

Ensuring high visibility policing and crime reduction on Surrey's streets
Special Constables play a vital role in the local community. They help to ensure high visibility policing, helping to reduce crime as well as helping with intelligence-led policing, and assisting Surrey Police when policing major incidents and events. Once training is complete they have the same powers as a regular police officer and wear the same uniform

Prison Chaplaincy Team – Prison Service

Serving the faith needs of prisoners and staff in Surrey's prisons
Each prison has a Multi Faith Chaplaincy Team composed of Chaplains from the main World Faiths (Christian, Islam, Sikh, Buddhist, etc) overseen by a Co-ordinating Chaplain. The Chaplains are complemented by volunteers from the Faith Communities who make a valuable contribution to the work of the team. For example through assisting services of worship, counselling the bereaved, and befriending selected prisoners

Independent Monitoring Board - Prison Service

To monitor the rights, treatment and well-being of prisoners within Surrey's prisons
Independent Monitoring Board members are assigned to a prison in Surrey and charged with making frequent visits – often unannounced – to monitor the day-to-day life in the prison, and ensure that its prisoners are being treated justly and humanely. They also need to be satisfied that the prison is adequately preparing them for release back into the community

Prison Visitors – Prison Service

Providing prisoners with regular contact with someone from the outside world
Prison visitors provide prisoners from across the county with support and friendship, irrespective of race and belief and usually to those with few relatives and friends. They are independent from the prison. Prison visitors also play an important part in maintaining links with the local community and the prisons. Most prisons operate Prison Visitors through the Home Office supported Charity National Association of Official Prison Visitors

Independent Members – Surrey Police Authority

To help ensure an efficient and effective police service in Surrey
Police Authority members play a key part in improving police performance and raising the standards of policing in your area. They can also help ensure that people from all local communities receive fair and non- discriminatory police services

Victim Support Volunteers

Victim Support Volunteers help people affected by crime. They provide confidential support to help victims of crime deal with their experiences, whether or not they report the crime
Volunteers are crucial to the work of Victim Support. Victim Support Volunteers offer help to around one and a half million people affected by crime each year. Volunteers are trained to give emotional support, information and practical help to people who have suffered the effects of all kinds of crime

Witness Service Volunteers

Offering free, confidential and independent information and support to all witnesses at Surrey's Crown and Magistrates' Courts.
Witness Service volunteers will provide practical and emotional support to victims, witnesses, their families and friends, before, during and after the court case. The Witness Service is independent of the court, police and other organisations there. It is there just to help them cope with the experience

Referral Panel members - Youth Justice Service

Deciding how a young person should make amends for crimes committed
Referral panel members are part of a decision making team who negotiate a suitable programme of activities for young offenders that will ensure they repair any damage they have caused by their offences, as well addressing the areas of their lives that are causing them to offend.

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