Cambridgeshire Constabulary
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| Cambridgeshire Constabulary | |
| Image:EnglandPoliceCambridgeshire.png Cambridgeshire Constabulary area | |
| Coverage | |
|---|---|
| Area | Cambridgeshire and Peterborough UA |
| Size | 3,389 km² |
| Population | 0.7 million |
| Operations | |
| Formed | 1965 (merger) |
| HQ | Huntingdon |
| Budget | {{{budget}}} |
| Officers | 1,402 |
| Divisions | Northern, Central & Southern |
| Stations | 15 |
| Chief Constable | Julie Spence OBE |
| Image:Cambspolice.gif | |
| Website | http://www.cambs.police.uk/ |
Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the Home Office police force in England responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire. The police authority comprises 17 members; including nine councillors, of which seven are nominated by Cambridgeshire County Council and two by Peterborough City Council; three lay justice members, nominated by the county's Magistrates' Courts Committee; and five independent members, chosen from the community.[1]
The force is divided into three divisions, or basic command units (BCUs):—
- Peterborough (Northern),
- Huntingdonshire (Central) and
- Cambridge (Southern).
Force headquarters is situated at Hinchingbrooke Park on the outskirts of Huntingdon. There is a centralised call centre for the county at Thorpe Wood in Peterborough.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary was formed with its present boundaries in 1965 from a merger of five police forces:—
- Cambridge City Police,
- the previous Cambridgeshire County Constabulary,
- the Isle of Ely Constabulary,
- Huntingdonshire Constabulary, and
- the Peterborough Combined Police Force (itself created in 1947 from a merger of the Liberty of Peterborough Constabulary and the City of Peterborough Constabulary).
The new police force was named the Mid-Anglia Constabulary until 1974, when the new non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire was created by the Local Government Act 1972 with identical boundaries to the Mid-Anglia Constabulary area.[2]
Proposals made by the then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, in March 2006 would have seen the force merge with neighbouring Norfolk Constabulary and Suffolk Constabulary to form a strategic police force for East Anglia.[3] While Norfolk supported the proposal; Suffolk indicated it would have preferred a merger with Norfolk and Essex Constabulary, although wanted to explore the viability of options other than merger; and Cambridgeshire expressed a preference to stand alone. In July 2006 however, the Home Office announced that all plans to merge police forces had been abandoned by the incoming Dr. John Reid.
There are a number of existing local telephone numbers used to contact the force; the new single contact number is 0845 456 456 4.
Following the appointment of Julie Spence to Chief Constable, John Feavyour and Mark Hopkins have been promoted to Deputy Chief Constable (Support) and Assistant Chief Constable (Operations) respectively.
[edit] References
- ^ About the Authority Cambridgeshire Police Authority (retrieved 09 December 2007)
- ^ Cambridgeshire Constabulary History The Badgers Lair (retrieved 11 December 2005)
- ^ Police forces 'to be cut to 24' BBC News, 20 March 2006 19:11 GMT
[edit] See also
- Policing in the United Kingdom
- List of police forces in the United Kingdom
- Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service
- East of England Ambulance Service
[edit] External links
