During this national Public Health Emergency, we have received some requests for clarification of NARPO’s position on the use of retired Police officers, on a voluntary basis or potentially re-joining the Police Service in some capacity or as a Police officer.

There has been a suggestion in an article from a former MPS Commissioner, and also from the current Commissioner, that retired police officers could be used in some capacity

NARPO members account for approximately two thirds of all retired Police officers. Our view is that we know that many retired police officers already perform voluntary work for Police Forces throughout the country.

We agree that retired police officers have certain skills and experience which could assist the Police in these extraordinary and difficult times. However, we are also mindful that many of those retired officers will also fall into the vulnerable category because of their age or health. For NARPO, our members’ personal health and well-being is a primary concern.

We are also aware of many local NARPO Branches providing support to their vulnerable Members  and our Business Support and Communications is putting together a guide that Branches can use.

Re-joining the Police

There are two ways to re-join the Police Service, either retiring and re-joining in a role which is materially different from that of a Police officer, or re-joining  the Police as a Police Officer.

On the former there is information on our website-

https://www.narpo.org/taxation-pension-entitlement-following-re-employment/

As Regulations stand, if someone wishes to re-join as a Police Officer, the Police pension would be abated i.e. the person would stop receiving it until they retire again from the Police.

The pension would still increase in line with CPI.

There is one Force, and there may be others, which has a scheme for re-joining the Police. However, there is no national guidance, as yet.

There are also some Forces which are asking for volunteer

Members should be directed to their individual Forces, should they wish to find further information on volunteering or re-joining the Police service.

We feel it is for each retired officer to make their own decision whether they wish to volunteer or not, taking into account their own individual circumstances and we would fully support those who wish to volunteer to assist the Police service and help the vulnerable at this challenging time.