Durham Constabulary
| Durham Constabulary | |
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| Logo of the Durham Constabulary. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1839 |
| Employees | 2,910[1] |
| Volunteers | 126[1] |
| Annual budget | £112.3 million[1] |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | Police area of Durham in the country of England, UK |
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| Map of police area | |
| Size | 2,232 km² |
| Population | 595,308 |
| Legal jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Governing body | Durham Police Authority |
| Constituting instrument | Police Act 1996 |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Constables | 1,758 (of which 126 are special constables)[1] |
| Police Community Support Officers | 162[1] |
| Agency executive | Jon Stoddart, Chief Constable |
| Basic Command Units | North Area South Area |
| Website | |
| www.durham.police.uk | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
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 43 territorial police forces that service England and Wales. Durham is Home Office force 11.
Durham Constabulary is managed by Chief Constable Jon Stoddart and his Executive Team, comprising Deputy Chief Constable Mike Barton, Assistant Chief Constable Michael Banks and Assistant Chief Officer Gary Ridley.
The force operates through a number of functional commands: Neighbourhood Policing, Response Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, Tasking and Co-ordination and Support Services, which all report to the Executive Team.
Since 2010 Durham Constabulary and neighbouring Cleveland Police have shared road policing and firearms teams through a joint Specialist Operations Unit. These officers are based at Wynyard Park Business Park and Spennymoor.[2] Durham and Cleveland Police have shared a Tactical Training Centre in Urlay Nook, near Durham Tees Valley Airport, since 2001.
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[edit] History
Durham Constabulary was one of the first county police forces to be set up, built in 1839. The force absorbed Durham City Police (formed in 1836) in 1921, Hartlepool Borough Police (formed in 1851) in 1947, Sunderland Borough Police (formed in 1837) in 1967, and Gateshead Borough Police (formed in 1836) and South Shields Borough Police (formed in 1839) in 1968, when it also lost some of its area to Teesside Constabulary.
In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,763 and an actual strength of 1,626.[3]
Under the Local Government Act 1972, in 1974, the northern area of the force (including Gateshead, Sunderland and South Shields) became part of Northumbria Constabulary, with Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees in the south-east going to Cleveland Constabulary
[edit] Officers killed in the line of duty
The Police Memorial Trust lists and commemorates all British police officers killed in the line of duty, and since its establishment in 1984 has erected over 38 memorials to some of those officers.
Since 1900 the following officers of Durham Constabulary were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress:[4]
- PC Keith Maddison, 1997 (collapsed and died while pursuing suspects from a stolen vehicle)
- DC James Brian Porter, 1982 (shot dead by two armed robbers, posthumously awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct)
- PC Glenn Russel Corder, 1980 (his vehicle crashed during a police pursuit)
- PC William Ralph Shiell, 1940 (shot dead by burglars)
- PC Matthew Walls Straughan, 1927 (shot dead by a suspect)
[edit] See also
- Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
- List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
- Table of police forces in the United Kingdom
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/performance-and-measurement/performance-assessment/assessments-2007-2008/durham
- ^ "Forces agree single firearms teams". Cleveland Police. 2010-04-05. http://www.cleveland.police.uk/news/releases/release9742.aspx. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
- ^ The Thin Blue Line, Police Council for Great Britain Staff Side Claim for Undermanning Supplements, 1965
- ^ http://www.policememorial.org.uk/Forces/Durham/Durham_Roll.htm
