There is an
Honorary Police (
FrenchJersey Legal French, also known as Jersey French, is the official dialect of French used administratively in Jersey. Since the anglicisation of the island, it survives as a written language for some laws, contracts, and other documents. Jersey's parliament, the States of Jersey, is part of the...
:
Police Honorifique) force in each of the 12
parishes of JerseyThe Channel Island of Jersey is divided into twelve administrative districts or parishes. All have access to the sea and are named after the saints to whom their ancient parish churches are dedicated.:* Saint Helier...
. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid.
Honorary Police officers have, for centuries, been elected by parishioners to assist the Connétable of the Parish to maintain law and order. Officers are elected as
CentenierA Centenier is a senior member of the Honorary Police of Jersey. Centeniers are elected for a mandate of 3 years at a public election within the Parish. In addition to general policing matters, the Centenier remains the only officer entitled to charge and bail offenders...
s,
VingtenierA Vingtenier is a political position in the Channel Islands, it is related to the term vingtaine.- Jersey :In Jersey, a Vingtenier is a member of the Honorary Police elected by a Parish Assembly of electors and ratepayers for a term of three years for a particular vingtaine A Vingtenier is a...
s or
Constable's OfficersConstable's Officers are the lowest rank of the elected police officers, collectively known as the Honorary Police who represent a Vingtaine in a Parish of Jersey....
each with various duties and responsibilities.
Until the 19th century the Honorary Police provided the only civilian law enforcement in Jersey.
There is an
Honorary Police (
FrenchJersey Legal French, also known as Jersey French, is the official dialect of French used administratively in Jersey. Since the anglicisation of the island, it survives as a written language for some laws, contracts, and other documents. Jersey's parliament, the States of Jersey, is part of the...
:
Police Honorifique) force in each of the 12
parishes of JerseyThe Channel Island of Jersey is divided into twelve administrative districts or parishes. All have access to the sea and are named after the saints to whom their ancient parish churches are dedicated.:* Saint Helier...
. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid.
Honorary Police officers have, for centuries, been elected by parishioners to assist the Connétable of the Parish to maintain law and order. Officers are elected as
CentenierA Centenier is a senior member of the Honorary Police of Jersey. Centeniers are elected for a mandate of 3 years at a public election within the Parish. In addition to general policing matters, the Centenier remains the only officer entitled to charge and bail offenders...
s,
VingtenierA Vingtenier is a political position in the Channel Islands, it is related to the term vingtaine.- Jersey :In Jersey, a Vingtenier is a member of the Honorary Police elected by a Parish Assembly of electors and ratepayers for a term of three years for a particular vingtaine A Vingtenier is a...
s or
Constable's OfficersConstable's Officers are the lowest rank of the elected police officers, collectively known as the Honorary Police who represent a Vingtaine in a Parish of Jersey....
each with various duties and responsibilities.
Until the 19th century the Honorary Police provided the only civilian law enforcement in Jersey. However, in the early part of the 1800s, crime was widespread among the urban population in
Saint HelierSaint Helier is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St. Helier has a population of about 28,000, roughly 31.2% of the total population of Jersey, and is the capital of the Island...
(around 25,000 people) and paid Police officers for the Parish of Saint Helier were appointed in 1853 and their remit was later extended to serve the whole Island as the
States of Jersey PoliceThe States of Jersey Police is the professional police service of Jersey. It was established in its current form by the Police Force Law, 1974 and consists of around 240 officers....
. The Honorary Police still provide an essential and very valuable service to the Parish and community.
Honorary Police officers
Each Parish elects a number of Centeniers, Vingteniers and Constable's Officers who act in the name of the Connétable of the Parish in maintaining law and order. These officers are elected for a period of three years and take an oath in the Royal Court.
All Honorary Police officers must live in the Parish at the time of their first election or, in the case of St Helier, be a ratepayer or mandataire of that Parish. If an officer moves out of the Parish during her/his term of office, s/he may continue her/his term of office with the approval of Her Majesty's Attorney General and the Connétable of the Parish and may stand for re-election provided there is no break in service.
A person may be nominated for election as a member of the Honorary Police if, on the day of nomination, s/he is at least 20 years of age and less than 70 years of age.
Honorary Police officers are on duty for one week at a time, usually every 3 or 4 weeks depending upon the roster within the Parish, and are on call 24 hours a day during that period. Honorary Police officers are elected to serve the Parish but in certain circumstances may assist or operate outside the Parish.
Anyone standing for election as a member of the Honorary Police will have to undergo a criminal record check.
Ranks of the Honorary Police
A
Centenier is a senior member of the Honorary Police of
JerseyThe Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes the nearly uninhabited islands of the Minquiers, Écréhous, the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs. Together with the bailiwick of Guernsey...
. Centeniers are elected for a mandate of 3 years at a public election within the
ParishThe Channel Island of Jersey is divided into twelve administrative districts or parishes. All have access to the sea and are named after the saints to whom their ancient parish churches are dedicated.:* Saint Helier...
. In addition to general policing matters, the Centenier remains the only officer entitled to charge and bail offenders. The Centenier presides at
Parish Hall EnquiriesA Parish Hall Enquiry is normally the final stage of the investigative processes following an alleged offence that occurs in Jersey. It is an opportunity for the Centenier to review the evidence of the case and discuss it with the accused...
and acts as Prosecuting Officer before the Magistrate's Court. The Constable of the Parish appoints one of the Centeniers as
Chef de Police of the Parish. Under Jersey law, anyone charged at the States of Jersey Police Headquarters must be charged by a Centenier of the Honorary Police, and he too will present the charges against an individual if the case is taken to the Magistrate.
A
Vingtenier is a member of the Honorary Police elected by a Parish Assembly of electors and ratepayers for a term of three years for a particular
vingtaineA vingtaine is a political subdivision of Jersey. They are subdivisions of the various parishes of Jersey, and one, La Vingtaine de la Ville , in Saint Helier is further divided into two cantons.St...
(or, in
St. OuenSaint Ouen is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is in the north west of the Island. The parish is the largest parish by surface area, covering 8,341 vergées...
, a cueillette) in that
ParishThe Channel Island of Jersey is divided into twelve administrative districts or parishes. All have access to the sea and are named after the saints to whom their ancient parish churches are dedicated.:* Saint Helier...
. Vingteniers, who occupy a rank below that of
CentenierA Centenier is a senior member of the Honorary Police of Jersey. Centeniers are elected for a mandate of 3 years at a public election within the Parish. In addition to general policing matters, the Centenier remains the only officer entitled to charge and bail offenders...
in the Honorary Police, carry out general community policing in the parish, and fulfill administrative roles within their vingtaine in respect of tasks such as the
Visite du BranchageA Visite du Branchage is an inspection of roads in Jersey and Guernsey to ensure property owners have complied with the laws against vegetation encroaching on the highway.-Jersey:...
. The office of Vingtenier (which is believed to refer to a responsibility of looking after 20 (French:
vingt) households) may date back to 1331, although the first recorded reference to the title of vingtenier dates to 1462.
Constable's Officers are the lowest rank of the elected police officers, collectively known as the Honorary Police who represent a Vingtaine in a Parish (or to a Cueillette in St Ouen) of Jersey. Constables Officers do not have to live within that Vingtaine (or Cueillette) but must live within the parish at the time of their election. If they move in the interim they are allowed to complete their term of office. They assist both the Centeniers and Vingteniers of the Parish with general policing matters.
Mission
The tasks are very varied and can include the following: provide foot and mobile patrols, perform speed and road checks, perform premises licence and curfew checks, assisting in searches for Missing Persons, assist policing major events, Centeniers perform Parish Hall Enquiries, assist and co-operate with the States of Jersey Police and with other Parishes’ Honorary Police in the policing of Island Events or as needed or requested.
Centeniers and Vingteniers also assist their Parishes with the "Visite du Branchage" twice yearly and the "Visite Royale" which happens once every six years.
Duty is usually performed for a week on a
rotaRota may refer to:* The rotavirus, causing severe diarrhoea, especially among young children* Rota or rosta is a table that shows what times certain things are going to happen and normally is referred to staffs shift times...
basis. The different Parishes differ slightly in their specific arrangements, however, all parishes hold a monthly meeting that their Connétable must attend.
Honorary Police Association
Centeniers, Vingteniers and Constables Officers are members of the Honorary Police Association.
Comité des Chefs de Police
A Chef de Police is appointed in each Parish from the Centeniers of that Parish and is responsible to the Connétable for the operational policing of the Parish. The Chef de Police of every Parish is a member of the Comité des Chefs de Police and it is the role of the Comité to seek to strengthen and uphold the Honorary Police by fostering and maintaining the unity of its members; oversee the management of resources made available to the Honorary Police; co-ordinate the provision of advice and guidance to members of the Honorary Police; promote consistency in operational practice between the Honorary Police of each parish; and foster continued co-operation with the
States of Jersey PoliceThe States of Jersey Police is the professional police service of Jersey. It was established in its current form by the Police Force Law, 1974 and consists of around 240 officers....
Service and other agencies.
See also
- States of Jersey Police
The States of Jersey Police is the professional police service of Jersey. It was established in its current form by the Police Force Law, 1974 and consists of around 240 officers....
is the professional police service of Jersey.
- Parish Constable
Parish Constable was a law enforcement officer, usually unpaid and part-time, serving a parish. In some parishes, the position was known as "High Constable", e.g. the High Constable of Holborn....
- Special Constable
A special constable is a law enforcement officer who is not a regular member of a police force. Some like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police carry the same law enforcement powers as regular members, but are employed in specific roles, such as explosive disposal technicians, court security, or...
- Auxiliary Constable
- Canadian Police Volunteers :The Auxiliary Constable performs a similar role to their UK counterpart in the Special Constabulary.Provincial Auxiliary Programs-Royal Canadian Mounted Police Auxiliary:...
- Auxiliary Police
Auxiliary police are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be armed or unarmed. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated.In some jurisdictions, auxiliary police have police powers only during an emergency...
- Special Police
Special police and Special Police Force are terms which have different meanings in different countries, as described below.-Canada:Special Police is not a term used in Canada...
- Police Auxiliary
External links