Police force

Introduction

• Police forces or constabularies are responsible for operational policing matters
• There is a dedicated list of all police forces in the UK listed on WhatDoTheyKnow.com

Police forces in England and Wales

FOIA Schedule 1 lists:

59 - A chief officer of police of a police force in England or Wales.

Section 101 of the Police Act 1996 defines "chief officer of police" to mean one of:

• the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
• the Commissioner of Police for the City of London
• the chief constable of a police area, namely:
  • Avon and Somerset
  • Bedfordshire
  • Cambridgeshire
  • Cheshire
  • Cleveland
  • Cumbria
  • Derbyshire
  • Devon and Cornwall
  • Dorset
  • Durham Constabulary
  • Essex
  • Gloucestershire
  • Greater Manchester
  • Hampshire
  • Hertfordshire
  • Humberside
  • Kent
  • Lancashire
  • Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire
  • Merseyside
  • Norfolk
  • Northamptonshire
  • Northumbria
  • North Yorkshire
  • Nottinghamshire
  • South Yorkshire
  • Staffordshire
  • Suffolk
  • Surrey
  • Sussex
  • Thames Valley
  • Warwickshire
  • West Mercia
  • West Midlands
  • West Yorkshire
  • Wiltshire
  • Dyfed Powys
  • Gwent
  • North Wales
  • South Wales

Police Forces in Scotland

• Central Scotland Police
• Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
• Fife Constabulary
• Grampian Police
• Lothian & Borders Police
• Northern Constabulary
• Strathclyde Police
• Tayside Police

• The following support services are all covered by FOI apart from ACPOS & SCDEA:

• Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS)
• Scottish Police Services Authority
• Forensic Services
• Information Services – Criminal Justice
• Information Services – ICT
• Scottish Police College
• Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency

Police Forces in Northern Ireland

• 61 - The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland

Non-geographic Police Forces

FOIA Schedule I includes:

• 62 - The British Transport Police
• 63 - The Ministry of Defence Police established by section 1 of the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987
• 63B - The chief constable of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary

However there are other non-geographic police forces:

• Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA)
• Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)
• UK National Wildlife Crime Unit

The following body is not subject to FOI:

• National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit

Airport police

• Belfast Airport Constabulary

Port police

• Belfast Harbour Police
• Port of Bristol Police
• Port of Dover Police
• Port of Falmouth Police
• Port of Felixstowe Police
• Port of Larne Police
• Port of Liverpool Police
• Port of Portland Police
• Port of Tilbury Police
• Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority Harbour Police

Tunnels police

• Mersey Tunnels Police

Waterways

• British Waterways enforcement officers (each of the regional waterway units has an enforcement team)
• Broads authority - river control

Park police

• Epping forest keepers (see: City of London Corporation)
• Hammersmith and Fulham Parks Police (see: Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council)
• Hampstead Heath Constabulary (see: City of London Corporation)
• Hillingdon Parks Patrol Service (see: Hillingdon Borough Council)
• Redbridge Parks Police (see: Redbridge Borough Council)
• Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Parks Police (see Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
• Wandsworth Parks police (see: Wandsworth Borough Council)

Ceremonial constabularies

• Kew Constabulary (see: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)
• University of Cambridge Constabulary
• York Minster Police

Resources

• FOI response from Home Office re non-geographic police forces
• WhatDoTheyKnow.com annotation re tunnel police