The headline in the media today refers to a policewoman. When you read the story it is in fact a Community Support Officer. The media either don’t understand or don’t want to differentiate between the two.

The proportion of CSO’s committing offences is far higher than that of police officers. Employing a cheap alternative to police officers is doing nothing to enhance the reputation of the police.

‘Woman ‘targeted seven long-haul passengers’ at Gatwick’
A woman has denied stealing £15,000 from seven air passengers while working as a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) at Gatwick Airport.

Alexis Scott, 39, reportedly targeted long-haul passengers at the North Terminal.

At Canterbury Crown Court this week, she denied seven counts of theft and one of misconduct in public office.

Ms Scott allegedly took £3,000 from a woman who was travelling to Turkey with £5,000 in cash that was intended to pay for an operation, as well as her nephew’s wedding.

Seven people said they were approached by uniformed officer at the departure gate telling them they could not take more than £1,000 in cash out of the country.

According to the BBC, prosecutor Anthony Prosser said: “Her position as a PCSO gave her access to the restricted airside area.

“It gave her the apparent authority to openly take cash from these passengers and they had no realistic opportunity to challenge an officer in uniform, who was telling them they had to hand over part of their cash to her.”

The Mirror reports Ms Scott was caught when one of her alleged victims saw her stuffing cash into her hat.

But Mr Prosser added: “When they tried to contact airport officials to try and get their money back, they found there was no record of it.

“It had simply vanished into the hands of the female officer. The cash had been stolen and it has never been recovered.”