| Kent Police | |||||
| Logo of the Kent Police. | |||||
| Motto | Protecting and serving the people of Kent | ||||
| Agency overview | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formed | 1857 | ||||
| Employees | 6,602[1] | ||||
| Volunteers | 349[1] | ||||
| Annual budget | £257.9 million[1] | ||||
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency | ||||
| Jurisdictional structure | |||||
| Operations jurisdiction* | Police area of Kent in the country of England, UK | ||||
| Map of Kent Police's jurisdiction. | |||||
| Size | 1,433 square miles (3,710 km2) | ||||
| Population | 1.65 million | ||||
| Legal jurisdiction | England & Wales | ||||
| Governing body | Kent Police Authority | ||||
| Constituting instrument | Police Act 1996 | ||||
| General nature | |||||
| Operational structure | |||||
| Headquarters | Police Headquarters, Sutton Road, Maidstone | ||||
| Constables | 4,067 (of which 349 are special constables)[1] | ||||
| Police Community Support Officers | 377[1] | ||||
| Agency executive | Ian Learmonth, Chief Constable | ||||
| Areas | 6 (Reducing to 3, late 2011) | ||||
| Facilities | |||||
| Stations | 27 | ||||
| Patrol cars | Skoda Fabia (Gen Patrol), Skoda Octavia Estate 2.0TDi (Emergency Response), Mercedes Sprinter & Vito vans, LDV Maxus vans, Volvo V70 Traffic & ARV, BMW 530D Traffic, BMW 330D Traffic, BMW X5 Traffic & ARV, Audi A6 | ||||
| Boats | Princess Alexandra III - ex Tamar-type Lifeboat | ||||
| Planes | Shared helicopter with Essex Police. G-ESEX EC 135 Eurocopter. | ||||
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| Website | |||||
| http://www.kent.police.uk/ | |||||
| Footnotes | |||||
| * Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |||||
Kent Police is the territorial police force for Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway.
The force covers an area of 1,443 square miles (3,740 km2) with an approximate population of 1,660,588 (1,114,100 in Kent,[2] and 249,488 in Medway).[3] The Chief Constable is currently Ian Learmonth, who was appointed in 2010 and is the former Deputy Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary.[4] Prior to Learmonth's appointment, Kent Police was led by Britain's first black Chief Constable, Michael Fuller QPM.
Because of the channel tunnel, Kent Police is unique among English forces in having a police station outside of the country, in Coquelles, France, staffed by Kent officers. Kent Police works with other UK and European forces as part of the Cross Channel Intelligence Community, helping to tackle cross-border crime.[5] The cross channel traffic occasionally causes Kent Police and the Highways Agency to enforce Operation Stack, controlling the freight flow on that part of the M20 motorway closest to the ports. Kent also has the largest strategic road network of any force in the UK, covering four motorways.
Proposals made by the Home Secretary on 20 March 2006 saw Kent Police stay as a standalone strategic force for Kent and Medway; it had been suggested that Kent should merge with another police force. [2]
Kent Police Authority has nine councillors (seven from Kent County Council, and two from Medway Borough Council), three Justices of the Peace, and five independent members.
The Port of Dover maintains its own independent police force, the Port of Dover Police, however Kent Police has statutory responsibility for policing the entire county and will take over primacy of serious investigations and incidents within the port when appropriate.
On 14 January 1857, a 222-strong Kent County Constabulary was formed under Chief Constable John Henry Hay Ruxton. The first headquarters was at Wrens Cross, Stone Street, Maidstone, and was rented for use by the police until 23 November 1860 where the force purchased it for £1,200.[6]
Also in 1860, the initial uniform of a frock coat and a high hat was replaced by a long uniform tunic and shako hat, and constables were issued with a rattle and truncheon. In 1885 whistles were introduced, and in 1897 the recognisable custodian helmet was introduced to the Kent force.
On 1 April 1889, Kent County Constabulary absorbed five of the fourteen other police forces that policed the county of Kent at the time. The remaining nine were absorbed on 1 April 1943. Ruxton retired on 14 August 1894 and died on 20 April 1897.
In terms of mobilisation and communication, Kent Constabulary purchased 20 bicycles in 1896, a number which rose to 129 by 1904. Telephones were given to village police officers in 1925, and by 1930, eight motorcycles had also been introduced, with 19 more bought in 1931 along with one police car. The constabulary still employed horses until 1943, when the last was retired.
In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,988 officers and an actual strength of 1,766, making it the third largest county force in Great Britain.[7]
Kent County Constabulary kept this name until the 1990s, when it changed its name to Kent Police, the last British force to keep the word "county" in its official title. Although still unpopular with many residents of Kent, the change was considered necessary because it was thought that the large number of visitors coming through the channel tunnel and the ports would understand the word "Police" more readily than "Constabulary".
The Kent Police headquarters are currently located at Sutton Road, Maidstone. Kent Police College is located to the rear of the headquarters site.
(Reorganised areas from earlier nine BCU structure to current six BCU structure; this was in response to calls for police force mergers and Kent's argument to remain a strategic stand-alone force.)
Plans have now been released to reduce the six current BCU's in the force into three new Divisions. A timeline for this change has not been announced, but is likely to be late 2011.[8] The new force Divisions will be structured as follows:
Neighbourhood policing will be carried out at a district level with an extra 400 officers transferred into it. Crime investigation and emergency response will be managed at a central level from the Force Command and Communication Centre. Specialist functions will remain centrally managed.
Tazers were introduced to Kent police in 2009 for rank and file officers, although only Response vehicle drivers were issued with them. Each Response vehicle had to be double crewed with both crew members carrying Tazer due to the safety implications, and to allow proper care and control of a Tazed individual.
On April 6, 2011 it was announced that the 3 new areas will each be commanded by a Chief Superintendent and Superintendent. Each individual town within each area will be commanded by a Chief Inspector. There are up to 400 extra officers on neighbourhood patrols now with all emergency response handled from HQ in Maidstone. All response officers will be Standard and Advanced level.
Kent Police cancelled their last scheduled intake of trainees for the Regular (paid) force in February 2011. They were due to commence their training at the end of March. There will be no further intake of Regular trainess now for at least 3 years. Conversely 200 Special Constables (volunteers) were sworn in the same month.
On June 3 at 9am every officer and member of staff in Kent Police received an e-mail informing them of their future assignments in the aftermath of the budget cuts.
In a report published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in July 2011,[9] the impact on the number of police officers and staff partly due to the reduction to Kent Police's budget following the comprehensive spending review is as follows:
| Police officers | Police staff | PCSOs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2010 (actual) | 3,787 | 2,673 | 387 | 6,847 |
| 31 March 2015 (proposed) | 3,274 | 1,858 | 364 | 5,496 |
In December 2010, former Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Leppard left Kent Police to take over as Commissioner of The City of London Police, replacing Mike Bowron QPM.
On 22 March 2011 former Kent Assistant Chief Constable David Ainsworth (then Deputy Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police) was found dead at his home. He had hanged himself.[11][12]
Essex Police and Kent Police set up a joint Serious Crime Directorate (SCD) in 2010, to help share intelligence. Kent Assistant Chief Constable Gary Beautridge is also simultaneously the ACC for Media Relations for Essex Police.[13] This has led to speculation that the two forces may merge permanently at some point in the near future.[14]
On December 3, 2011 ACC Allyn Thomas (Human Resources & Corporate Communications) retired from Kent Police. In light of the budget cuts imposed by the Coalition government in 2011, Kent have now cut back from 4 ACCs to 3.
On December 5, 2011 Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Paul Brandon then took on the role substantively and the responsibilities of the ACCs' portfolios were rearranged to accommodate the new management structure.
From 1857 to present.[15]
The 2010 Channel 4 documentary Coppers highlighted the work of the Kent force in two of its episodes. Episode 1 showed the work of the officers and staff at Medway's custody suite and episode 3 showed the force's call centre at Maidstone and the emergency response officers in Medway BCU.[16]
In 2006, Kent Police dealt with the biggest cash robbery in the history of British policing - the Tonbridge Securitas depot robbery. Officers investigated the theft of £53m, with six men being sentenced to a total of 156 years imprisonment.[17]
In June 2007 Anne Sanderson was shot dead by an armed officer in Sevenoaks, Kent after being seen with what was later identified as a ball bearing gun. It was the first fatal shooting of a woman by UK Police in 27 years (and first time ever that the shooting was deliberate). A subsequent IPCC investigation and an inquest jury returned a verdict of lawful killing.[18][19]
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.
The following members of Kent Police are listed on the Roll of Honour:
S/Insp George Moore, SC John Olive, PWRC Henry Kettle, PC Ronald Parker, S/Sgt Reginald John Rogers, SC Arthur Edward Potten, SC Ernest Albert Farrow, SC Frederick Walter Heine, SC Richard Daniel Jay Wills, PC Cecil George Constable, PMS Edward John Toomey, SC William George Warner, S/Sgt William Albert Bransby, SC George Ernest Russell, PC Sydney Russell, SC Harry Thomas R. Pankhurst, PWRC Frederick Chapman, Sgt William George Braddick, SC Frederick James Collard, PWRC Albert Robert Gibling, SC Robert Wheeler, Sgt William George Dickinson, SC Frederick Johnson