| Cambridgeshire Constabulary | |
| Logo of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1851, 1965 (merger) |
| Preceding agencies |
|
| Annual budget | £110.5m (2006/07) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | Police area of Cambridgeshire in the country of England, UK |
| Map of police area | |
| Size | 3,389 km² |
| Population | 0.7 million |
| Legal jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Governing body | Cambridgeshire Police Authority |
| Constituting instrument | Police Act 1964 |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Huntingdon |
| Police officers | 1,402 |
| PCSOs | 195 |
| Agency executive | Simon Parr, Chief Constable |
| Divisions | Northern, Central & Southern |
| Facilities | |
| Stations |
17
|
| Website | |
| www.cambs.police.uk | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. In addition to the non-metropolitan county, the Police area includes the city of Peterborough, which became a unitary authority area in 1998. The Chief Constable is Simon Parr, who replaced Julie Spence on the 5 September 2010. The Deputy Chief Constable (Support) and Assistant Chief Constable (Operations) are John Feavyour and Mark Hopkins.
The force is divided into three divisions, each based on the areas of local district councils:
The force headquarters is situated at Hinchingbrooke Park on the outskirts of Huntingdon. There is a centralised call centre for the county at Copse Court in Peterborough.
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The original Cambridgeshire Constabulary was formed in 1851. In 1965, it amalgamated with Cambridge City Police (called Cambridge Borough Police until 1951), Isle of Ely Constabulary, Huntingdonshire Constabulary, and Peterborough Combined Police (created in 1947 from a merger of the Liberty of Peterborough Constabulary and the City of Peterborough Constabulary) to form Mid-Anglia Constabulary, with the same boundaries as the current force. This force initially had an establishment of 805 and an actual strength of 728.[1] A separate Wisbech Borough Police had already merged with the Isle of Ely Constabulary in 1889.
The force was renamed Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 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.
The police authority comprises 17 members. This is made up of nine district councillors, of which seven are nominated by Cambridgeshire county council and two by Peterborough city council, three magistrates, nominated by the county's Magistrates' Courts Committee; and five independent members, chosen from the community.[4]
The Police Memorial Trust lists and commemorates all British police officers killed in the line of duty, and since its establishment in 1984 has erected over 38 memorials to some of those officers.
Since 1900 the following officers of Cambridgeshire Constabulary were killed while attempting to prevent, stop or resolve a crime:[5]