Port of Felixstowe Police

Port of Felixstowe Police is a small specialised police force established in 1975,^[1] responsible for policing the Port of Felixstowe.

Jurisdiction

Officers of this force are sworn in as special constables under section 79 of the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847, as incorporated by section 3(1)(e) of the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Act 1956.^[1] As a result, officers have the full powers of a constable on any land owned by the Port of Felixstowe and at any place within one mile of any owned land. The Port Police operate their own small fleet of liveried police cars and vans.^[2] Additional security is provided by MITIE.^[3]

Establishment

The force is commanded by the Chief Police Officer (currently J I Whitby), and is additionally made up of one inspector, one station sergeant, four sergeants, and 20 constables. Two controllers and one part-time secretary support the force.^[4]

Constables work in one of four watches, designated 'A Watch', 'B Watch', 'C Watch', and 'D Watch', each supervised by a sergeant. For operational reasons, each watch requires a deputy supervisor, for which purpose 4 constables (one per Watch) are afforded the rank of Acting Sergeant.^[5] As this is not a substantive rank, they are referenced as constables in policing statistics. The four watches report to the station sergeant and the inspector. These officers also supervise the control room, and its two controllers.

The 27 sworn police officers are assisted by 3 administrative staff and 64 contract security guards, who carry out routine gate control and search duties.^[6]

Rank table

The following table illustrates the ranks used in the force. Although historically widespread, the Port of Felixstowe Police is now the only British police force which retains the rank of Station Sergeant.

Port of Felixstowe Police ranks

Rank	Police Constable	Sergeant	Station sergeant	Inspector	Chief Officer (Chief Inspector)
Insignia

Notes:
Exact formats vary between uniform types.
The illustrations are generic and illustrative.
The collar numbers are typical of this police force.

Operations

Under freedom of information regulations the Port of Felixstowe Police has self-defined its operational responsibilities under eight headings.^[7]

• Security at the port
• Police protection to persons and property (including cargo)
• Facilitating lawful free movement
• Enforcing ISPF security code
• Police assistance at incidents, accidents, and emergencies
• traffic management for the port complex (and outside the port, in conjunction with Suffolk Constabulary)
• Escorting abnormal or specialist loads
• Crime prevention, and crime reduction advice

The local Home Office police force, Suffolk Constabulary, are summoned to deal with serious crime incidents within the port.

See also

• Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Port of Felixstowe: Port Protection