I am English and i'm coming from the British Police aspects.
I have studied the Police for 1 and half years in college and now applying as a Special Constable.
Our Police in Great Britain is so dynamic as we have loads of divisions and more than 1 way being a officer.
Let me start of with Police Community Support Officer (PCSO)
PCSO: The Police Community Support Officer is a paid role in the British Police where you have no power besides ticketing and detaining someone until a Constable arrives.
The PCSO's are for mainly city area's to combat anti social behavior by ticketing or warning them.
Special Constable: A Special Constable is a regular Police Constable with all the powers but they don't get paid for their duties.
Police Constable: A Police Constable is basically the same in many other countries, patrol, respond, investigate, arrest. Normally a Police Constable responds to any crime taking place unless it's a operation they're not apart of. They also respond to emergencies from someone being murdered to a house fire.
The PC/SC have great tactics to find a crime happening as they're always in communication with the CCTV, 999 Operator and nearly every Police car has a ANPR system in, They always have something to do and rarely have nothing.
Popular sections of the Police
• Dog unit - Normally called to search for someone or something (Persons, money, drugs, firearms, ect.)
• Air unit - Search/follow a suspect/criminal.
• Armed unit - Responds to any threats of firearms.
• CID (Criminal Investigation Department) - Investigates criminal activity and organisations.
• Traffic unit - Normally on the motorway but responds anywhere in their area for high speed pursuits/traffic violations.
• E-Crime unit - Internet crime.
I've briefly gone over the Police but you can find a lot more from http://www.police-information.co.uk/index.html (Not a official site but it's recommended.)