Northumbria Police

Coverage
Northumbria Police
Northumbria Police area
Area	Northumberland, Tyne and Wear
Size	5,553 km²
Population
Operations
Formed	1974
HQ	Ponteland
Officers	4,088
Areas	6
Stations
Chief Constable	Mike Craik

Website	http://www.northumbria.police.uk/

Northumbria Police is the Home Office police force responsible for policing the counties of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear in England. It is the sixth largest police constabulary in England or Wales. As of April 2005, the current Chief Constable is Mike Craik. The headquarters of the force are located at Ponteland, near Newcastle Airport. Former Chief Constables include Crispian Strachan CBE and John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington.

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. [1]

Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on February 6, 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.[2][3]