Northumbria Police

Northumbria Police

Area covered
Area	Northumberland & Tyne and Wear
Size	5,553 km²
Population	1,400,000
Operations
Formed	1974
HQ	Ponteland
Officers	4,088
Areas	6
Stations	Sunderland 5 Newcastle 4 North Tyneside 4 South Tyneside 3 Gateshead 2 Northumberland 9
Chief Constable	Sue Sim
Website	www.northumbria.police.uk

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 Authority on 20 April 2011. The constabulary headquarters are located in Ponteland, Northumberland, near Newcastle Airport. Former Chief Constables include Sir Stanley Bailey (1975-1991), John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (1991-1996), Crispian Strachan CBE (1998-2005) and Mike Craik (2005-2010). Northumbria is Home Office force 10.

History

The force was formed in 1974 and was a merger of the old Northumberland Constabulary along with part of the Durham Constabulary. The police forces for the county boroughs of South Shields, Gateshead, Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne and Tynemouth had already been amalgamated into their respective county forces in the late 1960s, with the Berwick-upon-Tweed police having been merged into Northumberland in 1921.

Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on 6 February 2006, it would merge with Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary to form a single strategic police force for the North East England. Both Northumbria and Durham favour this proposal, while Cleveland has expressed a wish that it be merged with the southern area of the Durham Force. These proposals have since been dropped nationwide.

In July 2010, Raoul Moat targeted Northumbria Police officers after release from Durham Prison. A manhunt was started by Northumbria Police with assistance from Durham Police, Cleveland Police, Cumbria Police, West Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police. As the situation developed over a period days more support was made available with the Metropolitan Police sending 40 firearms officers, most specialised in the use of sniper rifles. Also, the Police Service of Northern Ireland sent 20 armoured Mitsubishi Shoguns to help in the search on rough terrain in Northumberland.

Command team

• Chief Constable, Sue Sim
• Deputy Chief Constable, Mark Gilmore
• Assistant Chief Constable, Steve Ashman
• Assistant Chief Constable, Greg Vant
• Assistant Chief Constable, Jim Campbell
• Assistant Chief Officer, Bernie McArdle
• Assistant Chief Officer, Steve Culkin

Divisional structure

Northumbria Police is divided into six Area Commands with numerous stations within:

Identifier	Area Command	Stations	Area
AA	Sunderland	Gillbridge, Houghton le Spring, Farringdon, Southwick, Washington	covering the local authority area of Sunderland
BB	South Tyneside	South Shields	covering the local authority of South Tyneside
CC	Gateshead	Gateshead, Whickham	covering the local authority area of Gateshead
DD	North Tyneside	North Shields, Whitley Bay, Forest Hall, Wallsend	covering the local authority of North Tyneside
EE	Newcastle	Newcastle Pilgrim Street, Etal Lane, Clifford Street, Westgate Road	covering the local authority area of Newcastle upon Tyne
FF	Northumberland	Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth, Cramlington, Alnwick, Berwick, Prudhoe, Hexham, Morpeth	covering the local authority area of Northumberland

Neighbourhood policing

Northumbria Police has numerous teams dedicated to neighbourhood policing attached to the area commands as the table below outlines:

Northumbria Police: Neighbourhood Policing Teams

Identifier	Area Command	Neighbourhood Policing Teams
AA	Sunderland	Houghton; Sunderland Central; Sunderland East; Sunderland North; Sunderland South; Sunderland West; Washington
BB	South Tyneside	East Shields, Cleadon and Whitburn; Jarrow and Hebburn; West Shields and Riverside
CC	Gateshead	Central Gateshead; East Gateshead; South Gateshead; Inner West Gateshead; Metro Centre Gateshead; Outer West Gateshead
DD	North Tyneside	North Shields; Whitley Bay; Killingworth; Wallsend
EE	Newcastle	Gosforth and Great Park; Blakelaw, Kenton and Fawdon; Fenham and Scotswood; Benwell and Elswick; Newcastle Central; Jesmond and Heaton; Byker and Walker; Outer West Newcastle (formerly Westerhope and Newburn)
FF	Northumberland	Bedlington; Blyth; Cramlington; Ashington; Morpeth; Alnwick; Berwick; West Tynedale; East Tynedale

Communications

There are two central communication centres:

• Northern Communication Centre (NCC) which deals with all stations and commands North of the Tyne, based at Force HQ in Ponteland.
• Southern Communication Centre (SCC) which deals with all stations and commands South of the Tyne, based at South Shields.

Officers killed in the line of duty

See also: List of British police 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 Northumbria Police and its predecessors are listed by the Trust as having been killed while attempting to prevent, stop or solve a criminal act:

• PC George Bertram Mussell KPM, 1913 (shot)
• Sgt Andrew Barton, 1913 (shot)
• PC George William Wheatley, 1957 (fell from roof while searching for a suspect)
• PC Brian Armstrong, 1966 (stabbed)
• PC Daniel Buckley, 1982 (fell through roof while pursuing a burglar)
• PC Bernard Leslie Bull, 1991 (collapsed and died during an arrest)
• Sgt William Forth, 1993 (stabbed)
• PC Joseph Geoffrey Carroll, 2006 (the prisoner he was transporting caused the vehicle to crash, fatally injuring the officer)

External links

• Official website

See also

• List of police forces in the United Kingdom
• 2010 Northumbria Police manhunt
• Policing in the United Kingdom