Warwickshire Police

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Coverage
Warwickshire Police
Warwickshire Police area
Area	Warwickshire
Size	1,975 km²
Population	525,500
Operations
Formed	1840
HQ	Leek Wootton
Officers	1,012
BCUs	2 (5 districts)
Stations	16
Chief Constable	Keith Bristow

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

Warwickshire Police is the Home Office 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 the United Kingdom after the City of London Police, with only 1012 officers. 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 is a partner alongside three other forces in the Central Motorway Police Group.

1 History
2 Organisation
3 See also
4 External links

[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 John Burbeck), 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 two Areas (Basic Command Units): Northern and Southern. Each is commanded by a Chief Superintendent, assisted by a Superintendent (Operations) and an Area Crime Manager (Detective Chief Inspector) in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department. Each Area is further divided into Districts (based on local government districts), each commanded by a Chief Inspector (with a District Detective Inspector), and Sectors, each commanded by an Inspector. Most sectors only have a single police station, although a few have more.

Northern Area (HQ: Bedworth)
- North Warwickshire District (HQ: Atherstone)
  - Atherstone Sector
  - Coleshill Sector
- Nuneaton and Bedworth District (HQ: Nuneaton)
  - Bedworth Sector
  - Nuneaton Sector
- Rugby District
  - Rugby Sector
Southern Area (HQ: Leamington Spa)
- Stratford-on-Avon District
  - Alcester Sector (also police post at Studley)
  - Stratford-upon-Avon Sector (also stations at Henley-in-Arden, Shipston-on-Stour, Southam and Wellesbourne)
- Warwick District
  - Leamington Spa Sector
  - Warwick and Kenilworth Sector (also police post at Lapworth)

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.