North Wales Police

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coverage
North Wales Police
North Wales Police area
Area	Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham unitary authority areas
Size	6,290 km²
Population
Operations
Formed	1974
HQ	Glan-y-Don, Colwyn Bay
Officers	1,600
Divisions	3 (Western, Central and Eastern)
Stations
Chief Constable	Richard Brunstrom

Website	www.north-wales.police.uk

North Wales Police (Welsh: Heddlu Gogledd Cymru) is the Home Office police force responsible for policing North Wales. The headquarters are in Colwyn Bay, with divisional headquarters in St Asaph, Caernarfon and Wrexham.

The North Wales Police Authority consists of 17 members, of which 9 are councillors, 3 are magistrates and 5 are independent members). The councillors are appointed by a Joint Committee of the principal area councils of Anglesey, Conwy, Gwynedd, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.

Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on February 6, 2006, the force would merge with Gwent Police, South Wales Police and Dyfed-Powys Police, to form a single strategic force for all of Wales. This proposal has come up against particular criticism in North Wales, which tends to have stronger transport and economic links with north-west England than with the rest of Wales. [1]

1 History
2 Controversy
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

A Gwynedd Constabulary was formed in 1950 by the merger of the county forces for Caernarfonshire, Anglesey and Merionethshire. This force was itself amalgamated with the Flintshire and Denbighshire forces in 1967, the combined force also being known as the Gwynedd Constabulary.

In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 created an administrative county of Gwynedd covering the western part of the police area (equivalent to the original Gwynedd Constabulary area). As a result of this, the force was renamed North Wales Police on April 1, 1974.

[edit] Controversy

In recent years North Wales Police has attracted a great deal of media attention above and beyond its size. Many have attributed this phenomenon to its current Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom. He has often courted controversy and publicity through his vocal views on speeding motorists and the legalisation of drugs. The Sun newspaper dubbed him the "Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taleban." Despite this negative publicity he has earned respect for grasping the Welsh language and conversing publicly through it. He is also credited with modernising the organisation's infrastructure in comparison with other areas of Britain.

North Wales Police has also attracted attention due to its investigation into so called "Anti-Welsh" incidents attributed to TV personality Anne Robinson and the Prime Minister Tony Blair. The force was believed to have carried out these investigations following complaints from members of the public. The 10-month investigation into the Prime Minister was dropped on July 11, 2006 due to a lack of evidence. It had cost £1,656, whereas the Anne Robinson investigation cost £3,800. [2]

In 2006 the force attracted even more widespread publicity when a retired Detective Sergeant was prosecuted for alleged homophobic remarks made to a van full of officers in Wrexham. After the retired officer was acquitted it was alleged that the force was gripped by a culture of political correctness which prevented officers from making reasoned judgements.