Warwickshire Police

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Warwickshire Police
Warwickshirepolice.png
Logo of the Warwickshire Police.
Agency overview
Formed 1840
Employees 1,799[1]
Volunteers 208[1]
Annual budget £80.1 million[1]
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction* Police area of Warwickshire in the country of England, UK
EnglandPoliceWarwickshire.png
Map of Warwickshire Police's jurisdiction.
Size 762 square miles
Population 525,500
Legal jurisdiction England & Wales
Governing body Warwickshire Police Authority
Constituting instrument Police Act 1996
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters Leek Wootton
Constables 1,244 (of which 208 are special constables)[1]
Police Community Support Officers 133[1]
Agency executive Keith Bristow, Chief Constable[1]
Districts/Boroughs 2 districts and 3 boroughs
Facilities
Stations 16
Website
http://www.warwickshire.police.uk
Footnotes
* Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

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 (full-time equivalents) regular officers as of December 2006.[2] The resident population of the force area is 519,000.

Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on February 6, 2006, it would merge with Staffordshire Police, West Mercia Constabulary and West Midlands Police to form a single strategic force for the West Midlands region. [1] These proposals have since been shelved, however.

Warwickshire Police was until April 2007 a partner alongside three other forces in the Central Motorway Police Group.

Contents

[edit] History

The force was established in 1840 as Warwickshire County Constabulary. It did not, however, even cover all the rural areas of the county until 1857. Birmingham, Coventry, Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick originally had their own police forces. The Warwickshire force absorbed Warwick Borough Police in 1875 and Stratford-upon-Avon Borough Police in 1889 with Leamington Borough Police lasting until 1946. In 1969, Coventry City Police amalgamated with Warwickshire Constabulary and the force became Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary. However, with the inclusion of Coventry in the new county of the West Midlands in 1974, Coventry passed to the new West Midlands Police, which also took over the areas of the Birmingham City Police and part of the northwestern area of Warwickshire (around Solihull and Sutton Coldfield). Warwickshire Constabulary reverted to its old name.

[edit] Organisation

The force is run by a Chief Constable (currently Keith Bristow), a Deputy Chief Constable, two Assistant Chief Constables, and a civilian Director of Finance. Its headquarters are at Woodcote, a 19th century manor house and estate in the village of Leek Wootton, which has been the force headquarters since 1949.

The county is divided into Districts/Boroughs (based on local government districts/boroughs), each commanded by a Chief Inspector. Most sectors only have a single police station, although a few have more.

The current Chief Constable is Keith Bristow, who took over from John Burbeck in July 2006. Burbeck succeeded Andrew Timpson, who in turn succeeded Peter Joslin.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links