Merseyside Police

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Merseyside Police
Image:Merseysidepolice.gif
Coverage
Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police area
Area Merseyside
Size 250 Square Miles
Population 1.5 million
Operations
Formed 1974
HQ Canning Place Liverpool
Budget {{{budget}}}
Officers 4,442
BCUs 6
Stations 39
Chief Constable Mr Bernard Hogan-Howe
Website Merseyside Police Website

Merseyside Police is the Home Office police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England.

The force area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. At present the force has 4,442 police officers, 2,190 staff, 364 police community support officers and 392 special constables.

Merseyside Police is divided into six Basic Command Units (BCUs), one in each of the metropolitan boroughs that make up Merseyside, and two BCUs for the City of Liverpool. The BCUs are:


The force came into being in 1974 when Merseyside was created, and is a successor to the Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary (itself formed in 1968), along with parts of Cheshire Constabulary and Lancashire Constabulary.

The force operates under the supervision of the Merseyside Police Authority, which is made up of nine local councillors, three magistrates and five independent members.

Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on February 6, 2006, it would merge with Cheshire Constabulary to form a strategic police force. [1] This was later rejected.

Contents

[edit] History

During the Caia Park Riots on June 22, 2003, the Merseyside Police quickly came to the assistance of the local police, who were ill-prepared for such a situation.

[edit] Chief constables

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[edit] Vehicles

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Merseyside Police has a wide fleet of Vehicles. Scientific Support vehicles are usually Peugeot Partner vans equipped with a high intensity roof mounted light which allows forensic examinations to be completed in all lighting conditions. Roads policing vehicles are generally Vauxhall Vectra's, and Volvo T5's but there are also Jaguar roads policing vehicles that are utilised by the department. The patrol cars for Merseyside Police are a Ford Focus and a Vauxhall Astra. Unique vehicles within the force are the yellow vans. These are mobile CCTV and patrolling vehicles and the Peugeot Partner van is generally the vehicle used. In addition, Yellow Mercedes Sprinter vans are the main protected vehicles. These are used by a wide number of departments, including Matrix and Axis. The Mercedes Sprinter has onboard an ANPR system, A grill that drops down onto the front windscreen to help protect the officers from thrown missiles at public order incidents, and finally a mounted light on top of the lightbar to light up scenes at night. Off road vehicles used by the force include scrambler and quad bikes to target anti-social behaviour in parks.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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