Policing in the United Kingdom - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England & Wales, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

(administration of police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

matters is not generally affected by the Government of Wales Act 2006

Government of Wales Act 2006

The Government of Wales Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reforms the National Assembly for Wales and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily...

Jurisdictions and territories

In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, every person has limited powers of arrest

Arrest

An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...

if they see a crime being committed: at Common Law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

in Scotland, and in England and Wales if the crime is indictable – these are called "every person powers", commonly referred to as a "citizen's arrest

Citizen's arrest

A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval Britain and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers.Despite the...

". In England and Wales, the vast majority of attested constables enjoy full powers of arrest and search as granted by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, as well as providing codes of practice for the exercise of those powers. Part VI of PACE required the Home Secretary...

. All police officers are "constables" in law, irrespective of rank. Although police officers have wide ranging powers, they are still civilian

Civilian

A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...

s and subject to the same laws as members of the public. However there are certain additional legal restrictions on police officers such as the illegality of taking industrial action and the ban on taking part in active politics.

Types of law enforcement agency

There are four general types of agency, the first mostly concerned with policing the general public and their activities and the rest concerned with policing of other, usually localised, matters:

Territorial police force
Territorial police force
The phrase Territorial Police Force varies in precise meaning according to the country to which it is related, generally distinguishing a force whose area of responsibility is defined by sub-national boundaries from others which deal with the entire country or a restricted range of...

s, who carry out the majority of policing. These are police forces that cover a 'police area
Police area
A police area is the area for which a territorial police force in the United Kingdom is responsible for policing.Every location in the United Kingdom has a designated territorial police force with statutory responsibility for providing policing services and enforcing criminal law, which is set out...

' (a particular region) and have an independent Police Authority
Police authority
A police authority in the United Kingdom, is a body charged with securing efficient and effective policing of a police area served by a territorial police force or the area and/or activity policed by a special police force...

(England and Wales) or local authority or joint Police Board
Police board
A police board is an appointed form of local government charged with the responsibility of overseeing a local police forceIn the United States, the term is used for some police departments. For example, the Chicago Police Board oversees the Chicago Police Department...

(Scotland). The Police Act 1996
Police Act 1996
The Police Act 1996 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which defined the current police areas, constituted the current police authorities and set out the relationship between the Home Secretary and the territorial police forces. It replaced the Police and Magistrates Courts Act...

, the Police (Scotland) Act 1967
Police (Scotland) Act 1967
The Police Act 1967 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which provides the current framework within which the territorial police forces in Scotland operate...

and the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000
Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000
The Police Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act renamed the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, created the Northern Ireland Policing Board and District Police Partnerships.-External links:*, as originally enacted, from the Office of...

, prescribe a number of issues such as appointment of a Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...

, jurisdiction and responsibilities, for police forces in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Special police forces, which are national police forces that have a specific, non-regional jurisdiction, such as the British Transport Police
British Transport Police
The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...

. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
The Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed primarily at creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency, it also significantly extended and simplified the powers of arrest of a constable and introduced restrictions on protests in the...

refers to these as 'special police forces'.
Non-police law enforcement agencies, whose officers are not police constables, but still enforce laws.
Miscellaneous police forces, mostly having their foundations in older legislation or Common Law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

. These have a responsibility to police specific local areas or activities, such as ports and parks and before the passing of recent legislation such as the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 were often referred to as 'special police forces'; care must therefore be taken in interpreting historical use of that phrase. These constabularies are not within the scope of the legislation applicable to the previously mentioned organisations but can still be the subject of statutes applicable to e.g. docks, harbours or railways. Until the passing of Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003
Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003
The Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament-Purposes of the Act:The purposes of the Act include:-*the creation of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch...

, the British Transport Police was such a force.

Cross-border powers

Territorial police constables have certain powers of arrest in countries other than the one they were attested in. There are four main provisions for them to do so – arrest with a warrant, arrest without a warrant for an offence committed in their country, arrest without a warrant for an offence committed in another country and mutual aid. Note: this section applies to territorial police constables only, and not to others – except the British Transport Police, whose also have certain cross-border powers in addition to their natural powers.

Arrest with warrant

Certain warrants can be executed by constables even though they are outside their jurisdiction: arrest warrant

Arrest warrant

An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....

s, warrants of commitment and a warrant to arrest a witness (England, Wales or Northern Ireland) a warrant for committal, a warrant to imprison (or to apprehend and imprison) and a warrant to arrest a witness (Scotland).
A warrant issued in one country may be executed in either of the other two countries by a constable from either the country where it was issued, or the country where it is executed.:

When executing a warrant issued in Scotland, the constable executing it shall have the same powers and duties, and the person arrested the same rights, as they would have had if execution had been in Scotland by a constable of a police force in Scotland. When executing a warrant issued in England & Wales or Northern Ireland, a constable may use reasonable force and has specified search powers provided by section 139 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

Arrest without warrant: offences committed in home country

If a constable suspects that a person has committed or attempted to commit an offence in his country, and that person is now in another country, he may arrest (and in the case of a constable from Scotland, detain) them in that other country.

A constable from England & Wales is subject to the same necessity tests for arrest (as under section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984) as he would be in England & Wales, a constable from Scotland may arrest/detain if it would have been lawful to do so in Scotland and a constable from Northern Ireland is subject to the same necessity tests for arrest (as under Article 26 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989) as he would be in Northern Ireland.

A person arrested under the above powers:

in Scotland, shall be taken to the nearest convenient designated police station or to a designated police station in a police area in which the offence is being investigated (England & Wales or Northern Ireland),
in England or Wales, shall be taken to the nearest convenient police station (Scotland) or to a police station within a sheriffdom in which the offence is being investigated (Scotland), to the nearest convenient designated police station (Northern Ireland) or to a designated police station in which the offence is being investigated (Northern Ireland), or
in Northern Ireland, shall be taken either to the nearest convenient designated police station (England & Wales) or to a designated police station in a police area in which the offence is being investigated (England & Wales) or to the nearest convenient police station (Scotland) or to a police station within a sheriffdom in which the offence is being investigated (Scotland).

A person detained under the above powers:

in England or Wales, shall be taken to the nearest convenient police station (Scotland) or to a police station within a sheriffdom in which the offence is being investigated (Scotland), or to the nearest convenient designated police station (England or Wales), or
in Northern Ireland, shall be taken to the nearest convenient police station (Scotland) or to a police station within a sheriffdom in which the offence is being investigated (Scotland), or to the nearest convenient designated police station (Northern Ireland),

as soon as reasonably practicable.

Detention under these powers, which in Scotland normally lasts for six hours, is limited to four hours.

Arrest without warrant: offences committed in other countries

A constable from one country has, in the other countries, the same powers of arrest as a constable of that country would have.

A constable from England & Wales has:

in Scotland, the same power of arrest as a constable from Scotland
in Northern Ireland, the same power of arrest as a constable from Northern Ireland would have under Article 26 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (necessity test).

A constable from Scotland has:

in England and Wales, the same power of arrest as a constable from England & Wales would have under section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (necessity test).
in Northern Ireland, the same power of arrest as a constable from Northern Ireland would have under Article 26 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (necessity test).

A constable from Northern Ireland has:

in Scotland, the same power of arrest as a constable from Scotland
in England and Wales, the same power of arrest as a constable from England & Wales would have under section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (necessity test).

When a constable arrests a person in England & Wales, the constable is subject to the requirements of section 28 (informing of arrest), section 30 (taking to a designated police station) and section 32 (search on arrest). When a constable arrests a person in Scotland, the arrested person shall have the same rights and the constable the same powers and duties as they would have were the constable a constable of a police force in Scotland. When a constable arrests a person in Northern Ireland, the constable is subject to the requirements of Article 30 (informing of arrest), Article 32 (taking to a designated police station) and Article 34 (search on arrest).

Other situations

Police forces often support each other with large-scale operations, such as those that require specialist skills or expertise and those that require policing levels that the host forces cannot provide. Referred to as mutual aid, constables 'on loan' from one force have all the powers and privileges of a constable of the host force. Constables from the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

who are on protection duties in Scotland or Northern Ireland have all the powers and privileges of a constable of the local territorial police force. A constable who is taking a person to or from a prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

retains all the powers, authority, protection and privileges of his office regardless of his location. Regardless of where they are in the United Kingdom, a constable may arrest under section 41 and may stop and search under section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000

Terrorism Act 2000

The Terrorism Act 2000 is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland Act 1996...

on suspicion of terrorism (defined by section 40).

Territorial police constables

Most police officers are members of territorial police forces. Upon taking an oath

Police Oath

It is usual for Police officers take an oath to uphold the law. The following is a selection from different countries.- Hong Kong :English version according to Chapter 232, schedule 1, Laws of Hong KongI, .. ....

for one of these forces, they have all the powers and privileges, duties and responsibilities of a constable in one of the three distinct legal systems - either England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

, Scotland

Scotland

or Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, and the territorial waters of that country. The limited circumstances where their powers extend across the border are described below.

Other constables

There are many constables who are not members of territorial police forces. The most notable are members of the three forces referred to as 'special police forces': the British Transport Police

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...

, Ministry of Defence Police

Ministry of Defence Police

The Ministry of Defence Police is a civilian police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The force is part of the larger government agency, the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency , together with the Ministry of Defence Guard Service...

and Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary is a special police force responsible for providing law enforcement and security at civil nuclear installations, and for nuclear materials in transit, throughout the United Kingdom....

. These officers have the 'powers and privileges of a constable' on land relating to their work and in matters relating to their work. BTP and MDP officers have additional jurisdiction where requested by a constable of another force, in which case they take on that constables jurisdiction. Upon request from the chief police officer

Chief police officer

Chief police officer is a phrase used in the United Kingdom to describe the position held by the most senior police officer in a police force. It refers to either one of the 53 Chief Constables, the Commissioner of the City of London Police or the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Such...

of a police force, members of one of the above three forces can be given the full powers of constables in the police area of the requesting force. This was used to supplement police numbers in the areas surrounding the 2005 G8 summit at Gleneagles.

Many acts allow companies or councils to employ constables for a specific purpose. Firstly, there are 10 companies whose employees are sworn in as constables under section 79 of the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847

Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847

The Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which governs harbors, docks, and piers.-Port police:...

. As a result, they have the full powers of a constable on any land owned by the harbour, dock, or port and at any place within one mile of any owned land. Secondly, there are also some forces created by specific legislation such as the Port of Tilbury Police

Port of Tilbury Police

The Port of Tilbury Police is a small, specialised police force responsible for policing the Port of Tilbury, owned by the Port of Tilbury London Ltd, a subsidiary of Forth Ports plc. Known before 1992 as the Port of London Authority Police, at over 200 years old, it claims to be the oldest police...

(Port of London Act 1968), Mersey Tunnels Police

Mersey Tunnels Police

The Mersey Tunnels Police is a small, non-Home Office police force which polices the Mersey Tunnels in Merseyside, England on behalf of the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority.-Role and powers:...

(County of Merseyside Act 1989) and the Epping Forest Keepers

Epping Forest Keepers

The Epping Forest Keepers are an ancient and historical body of people who are employed by the City of London, who in return are responsible, as the Conservators, for the management and care of Epping Forest, which covers approximately ten square miles of forest, bridleway, woodland and...

(Epping Forest Act 1878).

Thirdly, under Article 18 of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government Provisional Order Confirmation (Greater London Parks and Open Spaces) Act 1967, London Borough Councils are allowed to swear in council officers as constables for "securing the observance of the provisions of all enactments relating to open spaces under their control or management and of bye-laws and regulations made thereunder". These constables are not legally police constables and have no powers to enforce criminal law other than those afforded to every citizen.

Police civilians

In England & Wales, the chief police officer

Chief police officer

of a territorial police force may designate any person who is employed by the police authority maintaining that force, and is under the direction and control of that chief police officer, as one or more of the following:

community support officer (commonly referred to as a Police Community Support Officer
Police community support officer
A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...

),
investigating officer,
detention officer
Custody assistant
A Custody Assistant is a non-warranted officer of a United Kingdom police force who assists police officers and custody officers in processing people who have been arrested and detained in a police custody suite...

, or
escort officer.

They have a range of powers given by the Police Reform Act 2002

Police Reform Act 2002

The Police Reform Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Amongst the provisions of the Act are the creation of the role of Police Community Support Officer, who have some police powers whilst not being 'sworn in' constables, and the ability for Chief Constables to confer a more...

, and their chief police officer decides which of these powers they may use. Unlike a police constable, a PCSO only has powers when on duty and in uniform, and within the area policed by their respective force.

Until 1991, most parking enforcement was carried out by police-employed traffic warden

Traffic warden

A traffic warden is a non-warranted officer employed by a statutory authority in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Ireland, to assist in regulating the flow of traffic.- Ireland :...

s. Since the passage of the Road Traffic Act 1991, decriminalised parking enforcement

Decriminalised parking enforcement

Decriminalised parking enforcement is the name given in the United Kingdom to the civil enforcement of car parking regulations, carried out by civil enforcement officers, operating on behalf of either a local authority or a private firm. The Road Traffic Act 1991 Decriminalised parking enforcement...

has meant that most local authorities have taken on this role and now only the Metropolitan Police employs Traffic Wardens, combining the role with PCSOs as "Traffic Police Community Support Officers".

In Scotland, Police Custody and Security Officer

Police Custody and Security Officer

A Police Custody and Security Officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer of a Scottish police force. Pay ranges from £15,912– £19,002 per year.-Powers:They have powers to:...

s have powers similar to those of detention officers and escort officers in England and Wales. Similar powers are available in Northern Ireland.

Accredited Persons

Chief police officer

s of territorial police forces (and the British Transport Police) can also give limited powers to people not employed by the police authority, under Community Safety Accreditation Scheme

Community Safety Accreditation Scheme

Community Safety Accreditation Schemes are a means by which the Chief Constable of a police force in the United Kingdom may grant a limited range of police powers to employees of non-police organisations who contribute towards community safety. Community Safety Accreditation Schemes were created...

s. A notable example are officers of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency is a non-departmental public body granted Trading Fund status in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Transport of the United Kingdom Government.-History:...

, who have been given powers to stop vehicles. However, this practice has been criticised by the Police Federation

Police Federation

Police Federation may refer to:*Police Federation of England and Wales*Police Federation for Northern Ireland*Scottish Police Federation*Defence Police Federation...

who described it as 'half-baked'.

Members of the armed forces

In Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

only, members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces have powers to stop people or vehicles, arrest and detain people for three hours and enter buildings to keep the peace or search for people who have been kidnapped. Additionally, commissioned officers may close roads. They may use reasonable force when exercising these powers.

Under the Customs Management Act 1979, members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces may detain people if they believe they have committed an offence under the Customs & Excise acts, and may seize goods if they believe they are liable to forfeiture under the same acts.

Other civilians

Many employees of local authorities have powers of entry relating to inspection of businesses, such as under the Sunday Trading Act 1994

Sunday Trading Act 1994

The Sunday Trading Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom governing the right of shops in England and Wales to trade on a Sunday...

and powers to give Fixed Penalty Notice

Fixed Penalty Notice

Fixed penalty notices were introduced in Britain in the 1950s to deal with minor parking offences. Originally used by police and traffic wardens, their use has extended to other public officials and authorities, as has the range of offences for which they can be used.In recent years, this has...

s for offences such as littering, graffiti or one of the wide ranging offences in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. Further such powers may be given under local bylaws or local acts of parliament.

When carrying out an investigation, staff of the Independent Police Complaints Commission

Independent Police Complaints Commission

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...

have all the powers and privileges of constables throughout England and Wales and the territorial waters. Similarly, staff of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland have certain powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence (Application to the Police Ombudsman) Order (Northern Ireland) 2009

Employees of the Serious Organised Crime Agency

Serious Organised Crime Agency

The Serious Organised Crime Agency is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom under Home Office sponsorship...

can be designated with the powers of a constable, Revenue and Customs officer and immigration officer. These designations can be unconditional or conditional: time limited or limited to a specific operation.

Employees of the UK Border Agency

UK Border Agency

The UK Border Agency is the border control body of the United Kingdom government and part of the Home Office. It was formed on 1 April 2008 by a merger of the Border and Immigration Agency , UKvisas and the Detection functions of HM Revenue and Customs...

may be Immigration Officer

Immigration Officer

The role of Immigration officers are to ensure that immigration legislation is enforced. This can cover the rules of entry for Visa applicants, foreign nationals or those seeking asylum at the border, detecting and apprehending those that have breached the border and removing them, or pursuing...

s and/or customs officer

Customs officer

A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government.-Hong Kong:4 931 posts, of which nine are directorate officers, 3 804 are members of the Customs and Excise Department, 504 are Trade Controls Officers and 614 are staff of the General and Common...

s. They hold certain powers of arrest, detention and search.

In England & Wales, water bailiffs employed by the Environment Agency

Environment Agency

The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...

have certain powers in relation to enforcement of fishing regulations. Scottish water bailiffs have similar powers. There are also seven types of court officer - two in Scotland and five in England & Wales, commonly referred to as 'bailiffs', who can enforce court orders and in some cases arrest people.

Traffic officer

Traffic officer

A traffic officer is a person with powers relating to the regulation of traffic on certain roads in England and Wales. In England, they are employed by the Highways Agency and in Wales by the Welsh Assembly Government and are not police officers or members of police forces.*Highways Agency Traffic...

s are employed by the Highways Agency

Highways Agency

The Highways Agency is an executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in England. It has responsibility for managing the core road network in England...

and maintain traffic flows on trunk road

Trunk road

A trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road—usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports, and other things.—which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic...

s and some bridges and tunnels. There are different types of traffic officer, and they are appointed under separate Acts. They have limited powers to direct traffic and place road signs, close lanes of an active motorway and stop vehicles if they believe them to be unroadworthy for the road and condition they are driving in.

Wildlife inspector have certain powers of entry and inspection in relation to wildlife and licenses relating to wildlife.

Employees of public fire and rescue services

Local Authority Fire Service

In the United Kingdom the terms Local Authority Fire and Rescue Service, County Fire & Rescue Service or Public Fire and Rescue Service refer to a fire and rescue service provided and operated by a county or metropolitan council to serve the public in an emergency...

have extensive powers in the event of an emergency

Powers of the fire service in the United Kingdom

The powers of the fire service in the United Kingdom are extensive, but vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. These powers generally only apply to members of public fire and rescue services...

, and more limited ones in certain other circumstances, such as investigations into fires.

Prison officer

Prison officer

A prison officer , also referred to as a corrections officer , correctional officer , or detention officer , is a person charged with the responsibility of the supervision, safety and security of prisoners in a prison, jail, or similar form of secure...

s have all the powers, authority, protection and privileges of a constable when acting as prison officers.

History

Accountability

In England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

a Police Authority

Police authority

A police authority in the United Kingdom, is a body charged with securing efficient and effective policing of a police area served by a territorial police force or the area and/or activity policed by a special police force...

, normally consisting of three magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

s, nine local councillor

Councillor

A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

s and five independent members, is responsible for overseeing each local force. They also have a duty under law to ensure that their community gets best value

Best value

Best Value is government policy in the United Kingdom affecting the provision of public services in England and Wales. In Wales, Best Value is known as the Wales Programme for Improvement.- Introduction :...

from their police force.

In Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

the Police Service of Northern Ireland

Police Service of Northern Ireland

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary which, in turn, was the successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary in Northern Ireland....

is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board

Northern Ireland Policing Board

The Northern Ireland Policing Board is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Northern Ireland...

.

In Scotland

Scotland

each police force is overseen either by the local authority (for Fife Constabulary

Fife Constabulary

Fife Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council area of Fife.The area policed by Fife Constabulary has a resident population of just over 350,000, almost a third of whom live in one of the three principal towns of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes...

and Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary

Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary

Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for the council area of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.The police force was formed in 1948 as an amalgamation of the police forces of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, and preceded the creation of...

) or by a joint board of the relevant authority for all other forces.

Two of the three special police forces in Great Britain, (the British Transport Police

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...

and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

) had their own police authorities set up in 2004. These forces operate across national jurisdictions but their normal responsibility is to the activities they police, i.e. the railways and the civil nuclear industry.

Her Majesty's Inspectorates of Constabulary

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland in the United Kingdom have statutory responsibility for the inspection of police forces.-England and Wales:...

(HMIC) are the official bodies responsible for the examination and assessment of police forces to ensure their requirements are met as intended.

There are two similarly named organisations:

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) - this organisation is responsible to the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

for police forces in England and Wales. It also inspects, by invitation, various UK special police forces. Since 2004, HMIC has also had responsibility for examining HM Revenue and Customs and the Serious Organised Crime Agency
Serious Organised Crime Agency
The Serious Organised Crime Agency is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom under Home Office sponsorship...

. Inspection services have been provided on a non-statutory basis for the Police Service of Northern Ireland
Police Service of Northern Ireland
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary which, in turn, was the successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary in Northern Ireland....

.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (commonly known as HMIC) - this organisation is responsible to the Scottish Government and examines Scotland's territorial police forces, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, the Scottish Criminal Record Office
Scottish Criminal Record Office
Criminal Justice Information Services is a department of the Scottish Police Services Authority. Previously called the Scottish Criminal Record Office , it established in 1960 with a mission statement “To manage information for the Scottish Police Service, wider Criminal Justice Community and the...

, the Scottish Police College
Scottish Police College
The Scottish Police College, based at Tulliallan Castle, in Kincardine-on-Forth, provides basic training to all new recruits to the Scottish Police Forces....

and the Scottish Police Information Strategy.

Crown dependencies and overseas territories

The Crown dependencies and British overseas territories

British overseas territories

The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...

have their own police forces, the majority of which use the British model. Because they are not part of the United Kingdom, they are not answerable to the British Government; instead they are organised by and are responsible to their own governments (an exception to this is the Sovereign Base Areas Police

Sovereign Base Areas Police

The Sovereign Base Areas Police is the local civilian police force for the British controlled Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus. Established in August 1960, the force has responsibility for all 15,000 residents of the SBAs, including military personnel...

- because the SBAs existence is purely for the benefit of the British armed forces and do not have full overseas territory status, the SBA Police are responsible to the Ministry of Defence). However, because they are based on the British model of policing, these police forces conform to the standards set out by the British government, which includes voluntarily submitting themselves to inspection by the HMIC.

Ranks

Throughout the United Kingdom, the rank structure of police forces is identical up to the rank of Chief Superintendent

Chief Superintendent

Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces organised on the British model.- United Kingdom :In the British police, a chief superintendent is senior to a superintendent and junior to an assistant chief constable .The highest rank below Chief Officer level, chief...

. At higher ranks, structures are distinct within London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

where the Metropolitan Police Service

Metropolitan Police Service

The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...

and the City of London Police

City of London Police

The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temple. The service responsible for law enforcement within the rest of Greater London is the Metropolitan Police Service, a separate...

have a series of Commander and Commissioner

Police commissioner

Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...

ranks as their top ranks whereas other UK police forces have assistants

Assistant Chief Constable

Assistant chief constable is the third highest rank in all British territorial police forces , as well as the British Transport Police, Ministry of Defence Police and...

, deputies

Deputy Chief Constable

Deputy chief constable is the second highest rank in all territorial police forces in the United Kingdom , as well as the British Transport Police, Ministry of Defence Police and Civil Nuclear...

and a Chief Constable

Chief Constable

Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...

as their top ranks. All Commissioners

Police commissioner

and Chief Constable

Chief Constable

s are equal in rank to each other.

Uniform and equipment

Uniforms, the issuing of firearms, type of patrol cars and other equipment varies by force. Unlike police in other developed countries, the vast majority of British police officers do not carry firearms on standard patrol; they do however carry Extendable "Asp" or fixed Monadnock PR-24 batons and CS/PAVA spray.

There are, however, exceptions. Every territorial force has a specialist Firearms Unit

Firearms unit

A firearms unit is a specialised, armed unit within each territorial police force in the United Kingdom. For the most part, the police forces of the United Kingdom are unarmed; however, all have firearms units to provide the police force with the capability to deal with armed criminals...

, which maintains Armed Response Vehicle

Armed Response Vehicle

An armed response vehicle is a type of police car operated by the British police. ARVs are crewed by Authorised Firearms Officers to respond to emergency telephone calls believed to involve firearms or other high-risk situations...

s to respond to firearms related emergency calls, while one territorial force (the Police Service of Northern Ireland

Police Service of Northern Ireland

) and two of the special police forces, (the Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

and the Ministry of Defence Police

Ministry of Defence Police

) are routinely armed.

The Metropolitan Police Service

Metropolitan Police Service

(MPS) firearms unit is called CO19 (formerly SO19), but every force in the United Kingdom has firearms trained officers available should the need arise. Metropolitan and City of London Police operate with three officers per Armed Response Vehicle (ARV). Each unit comprises a driver, a navigator, and an observer who gathers information about the incident and liaises with other units. Other police forces carry two Authorised Firearms Officer

Authorised Firearms Officer

An Authorised Firearms Officer is a British police officer who has received training and authorisation to carry and use firearms. The designation is significant because within the United Kingdom, police officers do not routinely carry firearms...

s instead of three. Armed Police carry a combination of weapons, ranging from German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

Heckler & Koch

Heckler & Koch GmbH is a German defense manufacturing company that produces various small arms. Some of their products include the SA80, MP5 submachine gun, G3 automatic rifle, the G36 assault rifle, the HK 416, the MP7 personal defense weapon, the USP series of handguns, and the high-precision...

MP5 carbines, Heckler & Koch MSG901 Sniper rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

s, Heckler & Koch Baton Guns (which fire baton round

Baton round

A baton round is a generally non-lethal projectile fired from a riot gun. There are three types:* Bean bag round* Plastic bullet* Rubber bullet...

s) and Heckler & Koch G36

Heckler & Koch G36

The Heckler & Koch G36 is a 5.56×45mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1990s by Heckler & Koch in Germany as a replacement for the 7.62mm G3 battle rifle. It was accepted into service with the Bundeswehr in 1997, replacing the G3...

Cs to a number of specialist weapons such as the Remington

Remington

- People :* Eliphalet Remington , American firearms designer* Philo Remington , American firearms and typewriter manufacturer, son of Eliphalet Remington* Frederic Remington , American painter and sculptor...

pump-action shotgun

Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...

.

Former Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

Jacqui Smith

Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith is a member of the British Labour Party. She served as the Member of Parliament for Redditch from 1997 until 2010 and was the first ever female Home Secretary, thus making her the third woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State — after Margaret Thatcher and...

recently unveiled new plans, for England and Wales, to train and arm response officers with Tasers, rather than just specialist firearms teams. Several forces underwent a trial period with Tasers issued to members of response teams, and it was subsequently unveiled across the country.

Height

In the 19th and early 20th centuries most forces required that recruits be at least 5 feet 10 inch

Inch

An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...

es (178 cm) in height. By 1960 many forces had reduced this to 5 feet 8 inches , and 5 feet 4 inches for women. Many senior officers deplored this, believing that height was a vital requirement for a uniformed constable. Some forces retained the height standard at 5 feet 10 inches or 5 feet 9 inches until the early 1990s, when the height standard was gradually removed. This is due to the MacPherson report of 1999, as the height restriction was seen to possibly discriminate against those of ethnic backgrounds who may be genetically predisposed to be shorter. No British force now requires its recruits to be of any minimum height. The shortest officer in the UK, PC Sue Day of Swindon Police, is 4 feet 10 inches tall.

Organisation of police forces

As all police forces are autonomous organisations there is much variation in organisation and nomenclature, however outlined below are the main strands of policing that makes up police forces:

All police forces have teams of officers who are responsible for general beat duties and response to emergency and non emergency calls from the public. These officers are generally the most visible and will invariably be the first interface a member of the public has with police. In general terms these officers will normally patrol by vehicle (though also on foot or bicycle in urban areas). They will generally patrol a sub-division or whole division of a police force area or in the case of the Metropolitan Police Service, a borough. Nearly all police officers begin their careers in this area of policing, with some moving on to more specialist roles. The Metropolitan Police Service calls this area of policing 'Response Teams', whilst other forces use terms such as 'patrol', 'section' and other variations.

Most local areas or wards in the country have at least one police officer who is involved in trying to build links with the local community and resolve long term problems. In London, the Metropolitan Police Service addresses this area of policing with Safer Neighbourhood Teams. This entails each political ward in London having a Police Sergeant, two police constables and a few PCSOs who are ring fenced to address problems and build community links in their respective wards. Other police forces have similar systems but can be named 'Area officers', 'Neighbourhood officers', 'Beat Constables' and a number of other variations.

Criminal Investigation Departments (CID) can be found in all police forces. Generally these officers deal with investigations of a more complex, serious nature, however this again can differ from force to force. Most officers within this area are detectives. Depending on the force in question this area of policing can be further divided into a myriad of other specialist areas such as fraud. Smaller forces tend to have detectives who deal with a wide range of varied investigations whereas detectives in larger forces can have a very specialist remit.

All police forces have specialist departments that deal with certain aspects of policing. Larger forces such as Greater Manchester Police, Strathclyde Police and West Midlands Police have many and varied departments and units such as traffic, firearms, marine, horse, tactical support all named differently depending on the force. Smaller forces such Dyfed Powys Police and Warwickshire Police will have fewer specialists and will rely on cross training, such as firearms officers also being traffic trained officers. The Metropolitan Police, the largest force in the country, has a large number of specialist departments, some of which are unique to the Metropolitan Police due to policing the capital and its national responsibilities. For example, the Diplomatic Protection Group
Diplomatic Protection Group
The Diplomatic Protection Group is a Specialist Operations branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The unit's main purpose is to provide specialist protection for diplomatic residencies in London, such as embassies, high commissions and consular sections...

and Counter Terrorism Command
Counter Terrorism Command
Counter Terrorism Command or SO15 is a Specialist Operations branch within London's Metropolitan Police Service. Counter Terrorism Command was established as a result of the merging of the Anti-Terrorist Branch , and the Special Branch in 2006, to form a single counter-terrorism investigative unit...

.

Deaths after contact with the police

The police service is sometimes criticised for incidents that result in deaths due to police firearms usage or in police custody, as well as the lack of competence and impartiality in investigations (in England and Wales only) by the Independent Police Complaints Commission

Independent Police Complaints Commission

after these events. The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

stated in 2009:

Controversial shootings

The policy under which police officers in England and Wales use firearms has resulted in controversy. Notorious recent examples include the Stephen Waldorf shooting in 1983, the shooting of James Ashley

James Ashley

James Ashley was a 39-year-old man who was shot dead by armed police while unarmed and naked, during a raid on his flat in St Leonards, East Sussex, United Kingdom, on 15 January 1998. Ashley and several of the apartment's other residents were suspected of involvement in large-scale drug deals...

in 1998, Harry Stanley

Harry Stanley

Harry Stanley was a painter and decorator who was fatally shot by police in controversial circumstances.-Background:...

in 1999, Jean Charles de Menezes

Jean Charles de Menezes

Jean Charles de Menezes was a Brazilian man shot in the head seven times at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground by the London Metropolitan police, after he was misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts...

in 2005 and Abdul Kahar in 2006.

Deaths in police custody

In 1997/98, 69 people died in police custody or following contact with the police across England and Wales; 26 resulted from deliberate self harm.

There are two defined categories of death in custody issued by the Home Office:

Category A: This category also encompasses deaths of those under arrest who are held in temporary police accommodation or have been taken to hospital following arrest. It also includes those who die, following arrest, whilst in a police vehicle.

s/he has been taken to a police station after being arrested for an offence, or
s/he is arrested at a police station after attending voluntarily at the station or accompanying a Constable to it, and is detained there or is detained elsewhere in the charge of a constable, except that a person who is at a court after being charged is not in police detention for those purposes.

Category B: Where the deceased was otherwise in the hands of the police or death resulted from the actions of a police officer in the purported execution of his duty.

when suspects are being interviewed by the police but have not been detained;
when persons are actively attempting to evade arrest;
when persons are stopped and searched or questioned by the police; and
when persons are in police vehicles (other than whilst in police detention).

Recent issues

Evidence of corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

in the 1970s, serious urban riot

Riot

A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...

s and the police role in controlling industrial disorder in the 1980s, and the changing nature of police procedure made police accountability and control a major political football

Political football

A political football is a political topic or issue that is continually debated but left unresolved. The term is used often during a political election campaign to highlight issues that have not been completely addressed, such as the natural environment and abortion.There are many reasons that an...

from the 1990s onwards.

The coal miners' strike (1984–1985) saw thousands of police from various forces deployed against miners, frequently resulting in violent confrontation.
The presence of Freemasons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

in the police caused disquiet in the early 1990s.
The Fettesgate
Fettesgate
Fettesgate was the term given to a major scandal involving the Lothian and Borders Police force in the 1990s, from its Fettes Avenue headquarters near Fettes College in Edinburgh....

scandal in the early 1990s concerned the theft (and allegedly the subsequent recovery) of sensitive documents from the Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

headquarters of Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police is the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian...

. Nobody has ever been charged, and, at least publicly, no officer was disciplined.
The perceived absence of a visible police presence on the streets also frequently causes concern. This is partially being addressed by the introduction of uniformed Police Community Support Officer
Police community support officer
A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...

s (PCSOs), following the passing of the Police Reform Act 2002
Police Reform Act 2002
The Police Reform Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Amongst the provisions of the Act are the creation of the role of Police Community Support Officer, who have some police powers whilst not being 'sworn in' constables, and the ability for Chief Constables to confer a more...

, although some have criticised these as for being a cheap alternative to fully trained police officers.
Recent undercover TV programmes BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's The Secret Policeman and the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

Dispatches
Dispatches (TV series)
Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...

programme Undercover Copper raised questions of standards within UK police forces.

Racism

Despite attempts to end racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

and what the Macpherson Report described as "institutionalised racism" in the police since the 1993 murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

of Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence was a black British teenager from Eltham, southeast London, who was stabbed to death while waiting for a bus on the evening of 22 April 1993....

, there have been ongoing problems. At the same time, some commentators and academics have claimed that political correctness

Political correctness

Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...

and excessive sensitivity to issues of race and class have reduced the effectiveness of the police force, not least for people living in deprived areas or members of minority groups themselves.

In 2003, ten police officers from Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...

, North Wales Police

North Wales Police

North Wales Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. The headquarters are in Colwyn Bay, with divisional headquarters in St Asaph, Caernarfon and Wrexham....

and Cheshire Constabulary

Cheshire Constabulary

Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an area of with a population of roughly 1 million.The Chief Constable of the...

were forced to resign after a BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

documentary, The Secret Policeman, shown on 21 October, revealed racism among recruits at Bruche Police National Training Centre

Bruche Police National Training Centre

The Bruche Police Training Centre was a training complex for probationary police officers in the United Kingdom. It trained many thousands of officers over a period of around sixty years, until its closure in May 2006. The site in a suburb of Warrington was operated by CENTREX, the 'Central...

at Warrington

Warrington

Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...

. On 4 March 2005 the BBC noted that minor disciplinary action would be taken against twelve other officers (eleven from Greater Manchester Police and one from Lancashire Constabulary

Lancashire Constabulary

Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in the North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston...

) in connection with the programme, but that they would not lose their jobs. In November 2003, allegations were made that some police officers were members of the British National Party

British National Party

The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...

Privacy

At the beginning of 2005 it was announced that the Police Information Technology Organisation

Police Information Technology Organisation

-History:The UK government Police National Computer project was evolved in the early 1970s, and was launched in 1974 with Stolen Vehicles as its initial database....

(PITO) had signed an eight-year £122 m contract to introduce biometric identification technology. PITO are also planning to use CCTV

Closed-circuit television

Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....

facial recognition system

Facial recognition system

A facial recognition system is a computer application for automatically identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source...

s to identify known suspects; a future link to the proposed National Identity Register has been suggested by some.

Freedom of speech

A number of recent cases where police intervened in matters of free speech have also given rise to allegations that the police are in danger of becoming thought police

Thought Police

The Thought Police is the secret police of Oceania in George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.It is the job of the Thought Police to uncover and punish thoughtcrime and thought-criminals, using psychology and omnipresent surveillance from telescreens to monitor, search, find and kill...

. In December 2005, author Lynette Burrows was interviewed by police after expressing her opinion on BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...

that homosexuals should not be allowed to adopt children. The following month, Sir Iqbal Sacranie

Iqbal Sacranie

Sir Iqbal Abdul Karim Mussain Sacranie, OBE served as General Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain until June 2006. He arrived in UK in 1969. He was founding Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain , and served four further years as Secretary General from 2002 to 2004 and 2004 to...

was investigated by police for stating the Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic view that homosexuality is a sin.

Photography of police

Section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 came into force on 15 February 2009 making it an offence to elicit, attempt to elicit, or publish information "...of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" about: a member of Her Majesty's Armed Forces; a constable

Constable

A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...

, the Security Service

MI5

The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...

, the Secret Intelligence Service

Secret Intelligence Service

The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...

, or Government Communications Headquarters

Government Communications Headquarters

The Government Communications Headquarters is a British intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the UK government and armed forces...

. Any person found guilty faces 10 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. It is a defence for a person charged with this offence to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for their action. Outside of such circumstances, however, it is perfectly legal to photograph or video a police officer in a public place.

Policing of protests

In April 2009, a total of 145 complaints were made following clashes between police and protesters at the G20 summit

2009 G-20 London summit protests

The 2009 G-20 London summit protests occurred in the days around the G-20 summit on 2 April 2009, which was the focus of protests from a number of groups over various long-standing and topical issues...

. Incidents including the death of 47 year old Ian Tomlinson

Death of Ian Tomlinson

Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural...

, minutes after an alleged assault by a police officer, and a separate alleged assault on a woman by a police officer, has led to criticism of police tactics during protests. In response, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson asked Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) to review policing tactics, including the practice of kettling

Kettling

Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...

Fixated Threat Assessment Centre

In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

, the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre

Fixated Threat Assessment Centre

In the United Kingdom, the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre is a joint police/mental health unit set up in October 2006 by the Home Office, the Department of Health and Metropolitan Police Service to assess and manage the risk to politicians, members of the British Royal Family, and other public...

is a joint police/mental health unit set up in October 2006 by the Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

, the Department of Health

Department of Health (United Kingdom)

The Department of Health is a department of the United Kingdom government with responsibility for government policy for health and social care matters and for the National Health Service in England along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish,...

and Metropolitan Police Service

Metropolitan Police Service

to identify and address those individuals considered to pose a threat to VIPs or the Royal Family.
They may then referred to local health services for further assessment and potential involuntary commitment

Involuntary commitment

Involuntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital or in the community ....

. In some cases, they may be detained by police under the section 136 powers of the Mental Health Act 1983

Mental Health Act 1983

The Mental Health Act 1983 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which applies to people in England and Wales. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons, the management of their property and other related matters...

prior to referral.

Proposed mergers for England and Wales

In 1981, James Anderton

James Anderton

Sir Cyril James Anderton CBE is a British former police officer who served as Chief Constable of Greater Manchester from 1975 to 1991.-Career:...

, the then Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...

called for 10 regional police forces for England and Wales, one for each region that would be adopted as Government Office Regions

Regions of England

In England, the region is the highest tier of sub-national division used by central Government. Between 1994 and 2011, the nine regions had an administrative role in the implementation of UK Government policy, and as the areas covered by elected bodies...

in England, plus Wales.

A 2004 proposal by the Police Superintendents' Association for the creation of a single national police force, similar to Garda Síochána na hÉireann

Garda Síochána

, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

was rejected by the Association of Chief Police Officers

Association of Chief Police Officers

The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...

, and the government has thus far agreed.

In September 2005, in a report delivered to the then Home Secretary

Home Secretary

, Charles Clarke

Charles Clarke

Charles Rodway Clarke is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.-Early life:...

, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary suggested that the forty-three force structure in England and Wales was "no longer fit for purpose" and smaller forces should be forcibly merged. As of 2005, nineteen forces had fewer than 2,000 regular officers, and the report suggested that forces with 4,000 or more officers performed better and could deliver cost savings. Forces were asked to produce proposals for mergers, within Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

and the English Government Office Regions

Regions of England

. Nearly all the existing forces were under the 4,000 limit, with only the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan Police Service

, Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...

, Merseyside Police

Merseyside Police

Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The force area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million...

, Northumbria Police

Northumbria Police

Northumbria Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the areas of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear in North East England. The service is the sixth largest police force in England and Wales. The current Chief Constable is Sue Sim who was appointed by Northumbria Police...

, Thames Valley Police

Thames Valley Police

Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....

, West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.Covering an area with nearly 2.6 million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country; the force is made up...

and West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers....

over the limit - see Table of police forces in the United Kingdom

Table of police forces in the United Kingdom

This table of police forces in the United Kingdom includes territorial police forces and special police forces. It does not include non-police law enforcement agencies or bodies of constables not constituted as police forces.-Table:-England and Wales:...

for a full list.

Draft options were announced in November 2005. The Home Office offered money to police authorities that decided to voluntarily merge ahead of schedule, and was consequently accused of attempting to "bribe" unwilling Chief Constables into compliance. The proposals were debated in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

on 19 December 2005. Most Chief Constables and police authorities did not back the measure, and some suggested that cross-regional mergers would make more sense (for example, Hampshire Constabulary

Hampshire Constabulary

Hampshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England.The force area includes the cities of Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth...

in the South East suggested it could merge with Dorset Police

Dorset Police

Dorset Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English county of Dorset in the south-west of England.-History:Dorset County Constabulary was formed in 1855. On 1 October 1967 it merged with Bournemouth Borough Police to form Dorset and Bournemouth Constabulary...

in the South West, whilst there was also a suggestion of North Wales Police

North Wales Police

North Wales Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. The headquarters are in Colwyn Bay, with divisional headquarters in St Asaph, Caernarfon and Wrexham....

increasing co-operation with Cheshire Police)

On 6 February 2006, preferred options for several regions were announced by the Home Secretary in a written ministerial statement

Written ministerial statement

A written ministerial statement is, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, a statement by a Minister that puts the day-to-day business of government in the public domain. Written statements can be accessed by the public in Hansard....

, and set a deadline of 24 February for forces to agree to the mergers. By this dead-line the only merger to have the agreement of all forces involved was the Cumbria/Lancashire merger. Cheshire was opposed to a merger with Merseyside, and West Mercia and Cleveland were holdouts in their regions, whilst all the Welsh forces opposed the creation of a single Welsh force. The Home Secretary had the power to order the Cumbria/Lancashire merger to proceed by statutory instrument under the Police Act 1996

Police Act 1996

The Police Act 1996 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which defined the current police areas, constituted the current police authorities and set out the relationship between the Home Secretary and the territorial police forces. It replaced the Police and Magistrates Courts Act...

, and also to force through the contested mergers, given a four-month consultation period. In a Written Statement made on 3 March 2006, he announced that the Lancashire/Cumbria merger could be ordered in May, and that the consultation period on the others was starting, and would end on 2 July 2006. The new forces would come into being on 1 April 2007.

A second batch of merger proposals were made on 20 March 2006, with the Eastern, East Midlands and South East regions covered. A deadline of 7 April 2006 was set for responses, after which it was expected that the process above would be followed. The following day, the Home Secretary proposed a merger of all four forces in the Yorkshire and the Humber

Yorkshire and the Humber

Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine regions of England and formally one of the government office regions. It covers most of the historic county of Yorkshire, along with the part of northern Lincolnshire that was, from 1974 to 1996, within the former shire county of Humberside. The...

region. The consultation period on this second batch of mergers started on 11 April 2006, and would have finished on 11 August, with a target of 1 April 2008 for the mergers coming into effect.

Greater London

Upon the publication of the proposals, the Greater London area was not included. This was due to two separate reviews of policing in the capital - the first was a review by the Department of Transport into the future role and function of the British Transport Police. The second was a review by the Attorney-General into national measures for combating fraud (the City of London Police is one of the major organisations for combating economic crime). Both the Metropolitan Police Commissioner

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, classing the holder as a chief police officer...

, Sir Ian Blair, and the Mayor

Mayor of London

The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

, Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone

Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...

, stated that they would like to see a single police force in London, with the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan Police Service

absorbing the City of London Police

City of London Police

and the functions of the British Transport Police

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...

in London. These would not have been the first mergers, as the Metropolitan Police absorbed the functions of the Royal Parks Constabulary

Royal Parks Constabulary

The Royal Parks Constabulary was the police force formerly responsible for the Royal Parks in London and a number of other locations in Greater London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland; it now only exists in Scotland as part of Historic Scotland....

in May 2006. However, the proposal to merge both the BTP and City forces with the MPS met with criticism from several areas; the House of Commons Transport Select Committee severely criticised the idea of the Metropolitan Police taking over policing of the rail network in a report published on 16 May 2006, while the City of London Corporation and several major financial institutions in The City

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

made public their opposition to the City Police merging with the Met. In a statement on 20 July 2006, the Transport Secretary announced that there would be no structural or operational changes to the British Transport Police, effectively ruling out any merger The interim report by the Attorney General's fraud review recognised the role taken by the City Police as the lead force in London and the South-East for tackling fraud, and made a recommendation that, should a national lead force be required, the City Police, with its expertise, would be an ideal candidate to take this role. This view was confirmed on the publication of the final report, which recommended that the City of London Police's Fraud Squad should be the national lead force in combatting fraud, to "act as a centre of excellence, disseminate best practice, give advice on complex inquiries in other regions, and assist with or direct the most complex of such investigations"

Merger abandonment

On 20 June 2006 the new Home Secretary, John Reid, announced that the contested mergers would be delayed for further discussion, and no mergers would be ordered before Parliament's summer recess on 25 July other than the agreed Lancashire/Cumbria one.

On 11 July 2006, it then emerged that the entire proposal for police mergers might be ended, following the decision by the only two forces to have agreed to amalgamation, Cumbria and Lancashire, not to proceed. The announcement of this was followed by the head of the ACPO stating that "The necessary financial support has not materialised and mergers, including voluntary ones, will not take place". On 12 July 2006, the Home Office confirmed that the mergers were to be abandoned, with the entire proposal taken back for consultation.

Other police forces

Policing in Scotland and Northern Ireland does not come under the purview of the Home Office, and so would have remained unaffected by these proposals. Likewise, the major non-territorial forces (British Transport Police

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...

, Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

, Ministry of Defence Police

Ministry of Defence Police

) are responsible to other government departments, and so would not have been affected by this review.

List of proposed mergers

Note: these mergers have all been suspended in the long term while a further review and consultation into policing in England and Wales takes place

Region	Proposed force
Eastern East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its...	Merge Bedfordshire Police Bedfordshire Police Bedfordshire Police, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, which includes the unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton. Its headquarters are in Kempston. The county had an estimated population of 602,500 in... , Essex Police Essex Police Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex in the east of England.It is one of the largest non-metropolitan police forces in the United Kingdom, employing approximately 3,600 police officers and operating across an area of over and with a population of... and Hertfordshire Constabulary Hertfordshire Constabulary Hertfordshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Hertfordshire in England. Its headquarters is situated in Welwyn Garden City...
	Merge Cambridgeshire Constabulary Cambridgeshire Constabulary Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. In addition to the non-metropolitan county, the Police area includes the city of Peterborough, which became a unitary authority area in... , Norfolk Constabulary Norfolk Constabulary Norfolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for the county of Norfolk in England. As of March 2009 the force had a strength of 1,668 police officers, 243 Special Constables, 277 PCSOs and just over 1,300 police staff.-History:... and Suffolk Constabulary Suffolk Constabulary Suffolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Suffolk in East Anglia, England.Suffolk Constabulary is responsible for policing an area of , with a population of...
East Midlands East Midlands The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...	Merge Derbyshire Constabulary Derbyshire Constabulary Derbyshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Derbyshire, England. The force covers an area of over with a population of just under one million.-Organisation and structure:... , Leicestershire Constabulary Leicestershire Constabulary Leicestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire.The current Chief Constable is Simon Cole.-History:... , Lincolnshire Police Lincolnshire Police Lincolnshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England. Despite the name, the force's area does not include North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, which are covered by Humberside Police instead.In terms of... , Northamptonshire Police Northamptonshire Police Northamptonshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England.The force area amounts to and has a resident population of 642,708... and Nottinghamshire Police Nottinghamshire Police Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million....
London Greater London Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...	London not included in the review of policing, so City of London Police City of London Police The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temple. The service responsible for law enforcement within the rest of Greater London is the Metropolitan Police Service, a separate... and Metropolitan Police Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police... unaffected.
North-East North East England North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...	Merge Cleveland Police Cleveland Police Cleveland Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the area of former county of Cleveland in north east England. The Cleveland Police area covers approximately and has a population of over 554,000.... , Durham Constabulary Durham Constabulary Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of County Durham and the unitary authority of Darlington. The force covers the 2,232 km² of the county which has a resident population of 595,308. It is one of the smaller forces of the... and Northumbria Police Northumbria Police Northumbria Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the areas of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear in North East England. The service is the sixth largest police force in England and Wales. The current Chief Constable is Sue Sim who was appointed by Northumbria Police...
North-West North West England North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...	Merge Cumbria Constabulary Cumbria Constabulary Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering Cumbria. It is currently the fifth-largest force in England and Wales in terms of geographic area but one of the smallest in terms of officer numbers. Given the force area's size and population of just under 500,000, it is... and Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in the North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston...
	Merge Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an area of with a population of roughly 1 million.The Chief Constable of the... and Merseyside Police Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The force area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million...
	Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England... unchanged
South-East South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...	Kent Police Kent Police Kent Police is the territorial police force for Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway.-Area and organisation:The force covers an area of with an approximate population of 1,660,588 . The Chief Constable is currently Ian Learmonth, who was appointed in 2010 and is the former... unchanged
	Merge Surrey Police Surrey Police Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in the south of England.The force is led by Chief Constable Mark Rowley and has its headquarters at Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey... and Sussex Police Sussex Police Sussex Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing East Sussex, West Sussex and City of Brighton and Hove in southern England. Its head office is in Lewes, Lewes District, East Sussex.-History:...
	Hampshire Constabulary Hampshire Constabulary Hampshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England.The force area includes the cities of Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth... unchanged
	Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.... unchanged
South-West South West England South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...	Option 1: Merge Avon and Somerset Constabulary Avon and Somerset Constabulary Avon & Somerset Constabulary is the territorial police force in England responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Somerset, the city & county of Bristol and the unitary authorities of South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset; before 1996 these districts... , Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Devon and Cornwall Police, formerly Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Devon and Cornwall in England and the unitary authorities of Plymouth, Torbay and the Isles of Scilly.... , Gloucestershire Constabulary Gloucestershire Constabulary Gloucestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire in England... , Dorset Police Dorset Police Dorset Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English county of Dorset in the south-west of England.-History:Dorset County Constabulary was formed in 1855. On 1 October 1967 it merged with Bournemouth Borough Police to form Dorset and Bournemouth Constabulary... and Wiltshire Constabulary Wiltshire Constabulary Wiltshire Police, formerly known as the Wiltshire Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing Wiltshire and Swindon in the south-west of England.-History:...
	Option 2: Merge Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Gloucestershire Constabulary, Wiltshire Constabulary and Dorset Police Devon and Cornwall Constabulary unchanged
Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...	Merge Dyfed-Powys Police Dyfed-Powys Police Dyfed-Powys Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and the county of Powys, in Wales. The territory it covers is the largest police area in England and Wales, and the fourth largest in the United Kingdom... , Gwent Police Gwent Police Gwent Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen in southeast Wales.... , North Wales Police North Wales Police North Wales Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. The headquarters are in Colwyn Bay, with divisional headquarters in St Asaph, Caernarfon and Wrexham.... and South Wales Police South Wales Police South Wales Police is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. Its headquarters are based in Bridgend.Covering Wales' capital city, Cardiff, as well as Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, and the western South Wales Valleys, it is the largest police force in Wales in terms of population,...
West Midlands West Midlands (region) The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...	Merge Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England... , Warwickshire Police Warwickshire Police Warwickshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Warwickshire in England. It was known as Warwickshire Constabulary until 2001. It is the second smallest territorial police force in England and Wales after the City of London Police, with only 998.6 regular officers as... , West Mercia Constabulary West Mercia Constabulary West Mercia Police, formerly known as West Mercia Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Shropshire , Herefordshire and Worcestershire in England. The force area covers making it the fourth largest police area in England and Wales... , West Midlands Police West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.Covering an area with nearly 2.6 million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country; the force is made up...
Yorkshire and Humberside	Merge Humberside Police Humberside Police Humberside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing an area covering the East Riding of Yorkshire, the city of Kingston upon Hull, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire... , North Yorkshire Police North Yorkshire Police North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. The force covers England's largest county and comprises three area command units... , South Yorkshire Police South Yorkshire Police South Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England.The police force covers an area of approximately 1,554 square kilometres which is made up of the county's three boroughs , along with the City of Sheffield. The resident population is 1.2... , West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers....

Proposed mergers for Scotland

In 2010, the Justice Secretary in Scotland, Kenny MacAskill

Kenny MacAskill

Kenneth "Kenny" Wright MacAskill is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern, formerly Edinburgh East and Musselburgh since 2007...

, outlined plans for reform of policing in Scotland. Under a consultation, three proposals would be discussed in light of the financial situation and the need for some level of budget cuts:

The eight existing police forces are retained, but with "increased collaboration"
Policing in Scotland moves towards a more regional structure, with the number of individual forces reduced
All eight Scottish police forces are merged to form a single Scottish police service

According to the Scottish Government, approximately 25% of the total police budget in Scotland is spent on Headquarters costs. The Scottish National Party

Scottish National Party

The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

has made a commitment to increasing numbers of police officers by up to 1,000. Both Labour

Scottish Labour Party

The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....

and the Conservatives have come out in favour of a single force, while the Liberal Democrats

Scottish Liberal Democrats

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...

are against this proposal. Following the 2011 Holyrood election, in which the SNP gained a majority, the proposal for a single police force in Scotland was introduced as part of the Scottish Government's new legislative agenda in September 2011. This would create a force of approximately 17,000 police officers, which would be the second largest in the United Kingdom after the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan Police Service

in London.

Border and Immigration Agency/UK Border Agency

As part of the wide ranging review of the Home Office, the then Home Secretary, John Reid, announced in July 2006 that all British immigration officers would be uniformed. On April 1, 2007, the Border and Immigration Agency

Border and Immigration Agency

The Border and Immigration Agency was an executive agency of the British Home Office, created on 1 April 2007. The Agency assumed the responsibilities of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for managing immigration control in the UK...

(BIA) was created and commenced operation. However, there were no police officers in the Agency, a matter that attracted considerable criticism when the Agency was established - agency officers have limited powers of arrest. Further powers for designated officers within the Agency, including powers of detention pending the arrival of a police officer, were introduced by the UK Borders Act 2007.

The Government has effectively admitted the shortcomings of the Agency by making a number fundamental changes within a year of its commencement. On 1 April 2008 the BIA became the UK Border Agency

UK Border Agency

following a merger with UKvisas

UKvisas

UKVisas was the executive arm of the British Government responsible for processing applications for entry clearance to the United Kingdom. It was an executive agency jointly run by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Border and Immigration Agency. On 1 April 2008, UKVisas was absorbed into...

, the port of entry

Port of entry

In general, a port of entry is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has a staff of people who check passports and visas and inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. International airports are usually ports of entry, as are road and rail crossings on a...

functions of HM Revenue and Customs. The Home Secretary

Home Secretary

, Jacqui Smith, announced that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) "...will bring together the work of the Border and Immigration Agency, UK Visas and parts of HM Revenue and Customs at the border, [and] will work closely with the police and other law enforcement agencies to improve border controls and security."

Within months of this, the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

revealed (in a 16-page response to a report by Lord Carlile

Alex Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew

Alexander Charles Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, QC is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.-Early life and career:...

, the independent reviewer of UK terrorism legislation

Terrorism Act 2006

The Terrorism Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006, after being introduced on 12 October 2005. The Act creates new offences related to terrorism, and amends existing ones. The Act was drafted in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005...

) that the Home Office will issue a Green Paper

Green paper

In the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland and the United States a green paper is a tentative government report of a proposal without any commitment to action; the first step in changing the law...

proposing to take forward proposals by the Association of Chief Police Officers (England & Wales) for the establishment of a new 3,000-strong national border police force to work alongside the Agency.

National Crime Force (England and Wales)

In April 2007, the Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron

David Cameron

David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

announced the Conservative Party's

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

proposals for reform of policing. These included:

Replacing police authorities with directly elected police commissioners. These individuals would have control over budgets and target setting, with the Chief Constable retaining operational control of policing.
Giving the public the right to discuss local policing issues with their local police officers at regular meetings.

In addition, the proposals made clear that on the issue of serious crime the 43 police forces in England and Wales would either have to have greater cooperation, or that the serious crime elements of their function would be invested in a National Serious Crime Force.

Police pay

The decision by the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

to refuse to implement, in England and Wales, the recommendation of the Police Arbitration Tribunal of a 2.5% increase in pay has caused widespread anger, especially as this decision stood in sharp contrast to the decision of the Scottish Government to fully implement the award for police officers in Scotland

Scotland

by backdating it to 1 September 2007. By instead implementing the award with effect from 1 December 2007, the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

effectively reduced it to 1.9%, claiming that this was necessary to control inflation, despite the fact that police authorities

Police authority

had already made provision for the full 2.5% increase from their revenue budgets. There were marches on Westminster by off-duty officers as a result.

Overseas police forces in the UK

There are certain instances where police forces of other nations operate in a limited degree in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The Police aux Frontières or PAF (French Border Police), a division of the Police Nationale
French National Police
The National Police , formerly the Sûreté Nationale, is one of two national police forces and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural...

, is permitted to operate in regard to Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....

rail services through the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...

. This includes on Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....

trains to London, within the international terminal at St Pancras Station, at Ebbsfleet and Ashford International railway stations, and at the Cheriton Parc Le Shuttle terminal (alongside French Customs officials). The PAF also operate at Dover Ferry terminals. This arrangement is reciprocated to the British Transport Police
British Transport Police
The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...

, UK Border Agency
UK Border Agency
The UK Border Agency is the border control body of the United Kingdom government and part of the Home Office. It was formed on 1 April 2008 by a merger of the Border and Immigration Agency , UKvisas and the Detection functions of HM Revenue and Customs...

, and UK Customs Officers on Paris bound trains and within the terminal at Paris Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...

, Coquelles (Le Shuttle), Gare de Lille-Europe
Gare de Lille-Europe
Lille-Europe is a railway station station in Lille, France. This station is primarily used for high-speed Eurostar and TGV services although some regional trains also call at the station....

, Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid and the Calais, Dunkerque, and Boulogne ferry terminals. The French police officers are not permitted to carry their firearms in the London Terminal; the firearms must be left on the train.
An Garda Síochána na hÉireann
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

(Irish Police), under a recent agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, have the right, alongside the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland is an independent public body in the Republic of Ireland under the ageis of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.The RPII was established in 1992 under the , which conferred on the RPII a broad remit in relation to...

, to carry out inspections of the Sellafield nuclear facility
Sellafield
Sellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...

in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

.
In 2006 a small number of officers from the Policja
Policja
Policja is the generic name for the police in Poland. The Polish police force was known as policja throughout the Second Polish Republic , and in modern post-communist Republic of Poland since 1990. Its current size is 103.309 officers and ca. 12.000 civilian employees...

(Polish Police) were seconded to the North Wales Police
North Wales Police
North Wales Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. The headquarters are in Colwyn Bay, with divisional headquarters in St Asaph, Caernarfon and Wrexham....

to assist with the supervision of foreign (largely eastern European) truck traffic largely on European route E22
European route E22
The European route E 22 is one of the longest European routes. It has a length of about . Many of the E-roads have been extended into Asia since the year 2000; the E 22 was extended on 24 June 2002.-United Kingdom:...

(the A55 road
A55 road
The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway, is a major road in Britain. Its entire length is a dual carriageway primary route, with the exception of the point where it crosses the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. All junctions are grade separated except for two roundabouts — one...

). The Chief Constable of North Wales has publicly stated (November 2006) that he is considering directly recruiting a small number of officers from Poland to assist with policing the substantial population of Polish people that have migrated to his area since Poland's accession to the EU in 2004.
Military Police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...

of forces present in the UK within the terms of the Visiting Forces Act 1952
Visiting Forces Act 1952
The Visiting Forces Act 1952 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. provides immunity against prosecution for certain offences in the courts of United Kingdom by members of visiting forces and, by virtue of the 1964 Act, international headquarters...

are permitted to travel to/from relevant premises in uniform and their (usually distinctive) vehicles will occasionally be seen. Their powers (including the carrying of firearms) are generally limited by that and other legislation to those necessary for the performance of duties related to their own forces and to those possessed by the General Public.

Topics

Police uniforms and equipment in the United Kingdom
Police ranks of the United Kingdom
Police aviation in the United Kingdom
Police aviation in the United Kingdom
Police aviation in United Kingdom provides the British police with an aerial support unit to assist them in pursuit, surveillance and tracking....
Police vehicles in the United Kingdom
Police vehicles in the United Kingdom
Police vehicles in the United Kingdom are hugely varied depending mostly upon the duties that the vehicle is purchased to fulfil, along with the standard of training the driver has received...
Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom
Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the majority of police officers do not carry firearms, except in special circumstances. This originates from the formation of the Metropolitan Police Service in the 19th century, when police were not armed, partly to counter public fears and objections concerning armed...
- List of police firearms in the United Kingdom

Bodies

List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
National Policing Improvement Agency
National Policing Improvement Agency
The United Kingdom's National Policing Improvement Agency is a non-departmental public body established to support police by providing expertise in such areas as information technology, information sharing, and recruitment.-Background:...
Europol
Europol
Europol is the European Union's criminal intelligence agency. It became fully operational on 1 July 1999....
Forensic Science Service
Forensic Science Service
The Forensic Science Service is a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provides forensic science services to the police forces and government agencies of England and Wales, as well as other countries.-History:...
Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...

(for England and Wales)
Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
LGC Forensics - Laboratory of the Government Chemist
National Black Police Association
Police Staff College, Bramshill
Police Staff College, Bramshill
The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, Hook, Hampshire, England, is the principal police staff training establishment in the United Kingdom....
Service Police

Databases

National identity card database
British national identity card
The Identity Cards Act 2006 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for National Identity Cards, a personal identification document and European Union travel document, linked to a database known as the National Identity Register .The introduction of the scheme was much...
Crimint
Crimint
Crimint is a database run by the Metropolitan Police Service of Greater London which stores information on criminals, suspected criminals and protesters. It was created in 1994 and supplied by Memex Technology Limited. It supports the recording and searching of items of intelligence by both police...
HOLMES
HOLMES2
HOLMES 2 is an Information Technology system that is predominantly used by UK Police forces for the investigation of major incidents such as serial murders and multi-million pound frauds....
Police National Computer
Police National Computer
The Police National Computer is a computer system used extensively by law enforcement organisations across the United Kingdom. It went live in 1974 and now consists of several databases available 24 hours a day, giving access to information of national and local significance.From October 2009, the...
Violent and Sex Offender Register
Violent and Sex Offender Register
In the United Kingdom, the Violent and Sex Offender Register is a database of records of those required to register with the Police under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, those jailed for more than 12 months for violent offences, and unconvicted people simply thought to be at risk of offending...
UK National DNA Database
UK National DNA Database
The United Kingdom National DNA Database is a national DNA Database that was set up in 1995. As of the end of 2005, it carried the profiles of around 3.1 million people...
Service Police Crime Bureau
Service Police Crime Bureau
The Service Police Crime Bureau is operated by the Royal Military Police, Royal Air Force Police and Royal Navy Police. It is located at the Defence College of Policing and Guarding at Southwick Park, near Portsmouth, England.The Bureau includes:...

Other

Shoulder Number
Collar number
A collar number, also known as a shoulder number, Force Identification Number or occasionally as Force Number , identifies uniformed officers, Police Community Support Officers , and some police staff in UK police forces. Although now displayed on epaulettes A collar number, also known as a...
List of British police officers killed in the line of duty
Panda car
Panda car
The phrase panda car refers to a small or medium-sized police car operated by British police forces. They are used for ordinary patrol work, with larger and more powerful vehicles being used for emergency response, Road Policing Unit duties and as Armed Response Vehicles-History of the term:Panda...
Police Intelligence
Police Intelligence
Police intelligence refers to an element of the British police. Staffed by police officers and support staff, its purpose is to track and predict crime with a view to curbing it...
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
Special Constable
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, campus...

s
Warrant card
Warrant card
A warrant card is proof of identification and authority carried by police officers. The term is normally used only within the United Kingdom and in current and former Commonwealth countries...

External links

National Police Resources

Staff Associations

Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland
Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Police Federation of England and Wales
Scottish Police Federation
Police Federation for Northern Ireland
Christian Police Association
Gay Police Association Website
National Black Police Association
Catholic Police Guild
Catholic Police Guild
The Catholic Police Guild of England & Wales was founded in 1914 as the Metropolitan and City Catholic Police Guild. This was an association for Catholic Police men and women, and approved by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, in response to representations made by Catholics serving in...

Complaints against police

Non-official and Independent Sites

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