Firearms Caseworker

Job Description

Job title: Firearms Caseworker
Job Category: Blue Light specific roles – Qualified
Location: Essex Police
Hours per week: 37
Salary: £14.09 per hour
Main purpose of the role:
Provide an efficient and effective service in connection with processing of the grant, variation, renewal, revocation, refusal or cancellation of firearm review and application of shotgun certificates, permits and land exemptions, in order to support Essex Police in its statutory responsibility of the safe possession and use of firearms in compliance with policy and the legislation.
Main responsibilities:
– Receive and process certificate applications, renewals and variations through updates on the NFLMS database, amending or creating PNC records for applicants, in accordance with Essex Police policy, and legislative requirements, in order to commence an effective firearms licensing process.
– Complete all vetting checks on applicants and existing licence holders, interrogating, assessing and evaluating all relevant intelligence systems for information relating to the applicant, current and previous addresses and persons residing there, and obtain GP reports where relevant to do so in order to produce case files, identifying all documentation relevant to the application, tasking an enquiry to highlight areas to be followed up by the Firearms Enquiry Officer.
– Receive and risk assess (against a decision making model) completed reports from Firearms Enquiry Officers, update the National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS) database and relevant systems with information received, process payments received, and issue certification according to procedure for sign off by Team Leader or escalation to the delegated decision maker.
– Respond to enquiries from Police Officers, members of the public / applicants, providing information and procedural guidance, by telephone, written/electronic correspondence or face to face, referring matters of a more complex nature to the Team Leader in order to contribute to effective service delivery.
– Collate and evaluate using the NDM information relating to applications, including domestic incidents, medical reports, and miscellaneous enquiries, undertake preliminary investigation of the matter and generate enquires into the suitability of the subject to hold a licence which may be followed up by the Firearms Enquiry Officer, in order to enable safety and compliance requirements to be checked.
– Maintain a diary system in relation to own workloads, routinely checking the progress of applications and reports, chasing outstanding enquires, maintaining records in relation to change of address, transfers, cancellations, security reports and notice of sales to ensure that an accurate history of the possession of weapons is recorded in accordance with legislative and policy requirement. Assist the team leader in the tutoring of new starters as tasked to provide an effective firearms licensing process.
– Progress the revocation/refusal process on the NFLMS, as instructed by Command Team, tracking progress utilising the diary system, in order to ascertain whether weapons and certificates have been seized, update the Property Management System with relevant information relating to seized weapons, and informing the Firearms Enquiry Officer accordingly to enable appropriate action to be taken in order to prevent illegal possession of weapons.
– Produce and manage a daily expiry list identifying records of concern and tasking relevant actions in relation to this ensuring certificate holders do not fall into illegal possession and take appropriate action to locate/trace the certificate holders and their firearms, tasking via the PNC Bureau to create a Locate//Trace record having exhausted all other avenues of enquiries to locate.
Necessary experience:
Good general education is required with GCSE in Maths and English as well as good IT knowledge and awareness of system utilisation.
Attention to detail and an ability to operate several computer systems and databases for data input, interrogation, and cross-referencing information is required.
The ability to follow procedures will be required in order to administer applications and renewals for all firearms, shot guns, and explosives licences.
The ability to effectively plan and manage their own time is essential in order to process and work to policy deadlines.
Effective communication skills and customer focus are required to respond to enquiries from the public, outside organisations and police officers, providing guidance in relation to firearms licencing policy and practice, and providing updates on pending cases.
One years experience of working in an administrative role in a busy office environment is required, ideally providing a high volume service to the public.
Willingness to undertake training relevant to the role as required.