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List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. There are four general types mostly concerned with policing the general public and their activities and a number of others concerned with policing of other, usually localised, matters.
Over the centuries there has been a wide variation in the number of police forces in the United Kingdom, with a huge number now no longer in existence. See List of defunct law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom for these. Territorial police forcesEngland and WalesThe territorial forces use the boundaries of the local government areas (counties) established in the 1974 local government reorganisations (although with subsequent modifications). These forces provide the majority of policing services to the public of England and Wales. These forces are known as "Home Office police forces" due to the Acts of Parliament that established them. It should be noted, that despite the implication of the term, all police forces are independent, with operational control resting solely with the Chief Constable of each force (or the Commissioner with regard to the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police), with oversight from a Police Authority for each force. The Police Act 1996 is the most recent piece of legislation which outlines the areas of responsibility for the 43 territorial forces of England and Wales (found in Schedule 1 of the Act). The Act also outlines the jurisdiction of constables of these forces. Constable is the lowest rank in the police service, but all officers, whatever their rank are "constables" in terms of legal powers and jurisdiction. Police officers in Home Office police forces in England and Wales derive their jurisdiction from Section 30 of the Police Act 1996. This section outlines that such officers have jurisdiction throughout England and Wales and also the adjacent United Kingdom waters. Special Constables, who are part-time, volunteer officers of these forces, used to have a more limited jurisdiction - limited solely to their own force areas and adjacent forces. Since April 1st 2007, however Special Constables of England & Wales have full police powers throughout those two countries. This means that, in contrast to the majority of countries, all UK volunteer police officers now have exactly the same powers as their full time colleagues. Generally, constables from English and Welsh Home Office forces do not have jurisdiction in Scotland or Northern Ireland and vice versa. However, limited powers exist to pursue and arrest where a person flees over the border into Scotland in certain situations. Legislation is also in place for "mutual aid" situations, which extends constables' jurisdiction into any part of the United Kingdom when they are on loan to the receiving force. An example of this was the G8 conference at Gleneagles, Scotland, where 14,000 officers from every force throughout the United Kingdom were involved and had full police powers under Scots law for the period of the operation consequent to being on loan to Tayside Police, the local police force for the area. A minor oddity to jurisdiction is that police officers of the Metropolitan Police who are responsible for Royalty and VIP protection have jurisdiction in any part of the United Kingdom whilst performing those functions. As of September 2006 police numbers in England and Wales were: [1]
Police Officer numbers in England and Wales are at their highest ever levels. [2] England
*Note: Staffordshire, West Mercia and West Midlands participate in a partnership called the Central Motorway Police Group As of September 2006 police numbers in England: [1]
Wales
As of September 2006 police numbers in Wales were: [1]
Scotland
As of March 2005, police numbers in Scotland were: [3]
Northern Ireland
As of April 2007 police numbers in Northern Ireland were: [4]
The PSNI does not employ PCSOs. Special police forcesThese forces (except the SCDEA) operate in more than one jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. Within the multiple jurisdictions, the remit of some of the forces is further limited to the areas that they police, such as railway infrastructure or military/defence property. The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 gave the British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police a limited, conditional jurisdiction to act outside of their primary jurisdiction if the situation requires urgent police action and the local force are not readily available, or if they believe that there is risk to life or limb, or where they are assisting the local force. As these forces are responsible to specific areas of infrastructure, they do not answer to the Home Office, but instead to the government department responsible for the area they police. Both the MDP and BTP do voluntarily submit themselves to HMIC inspection:
These forces are now defined in legislation as "special police forces". Non-police law enforcement organisationsBodies with limited executive powersThese organisations are not police forces and do not have police powers. They do have certain defined executive powers, however, in practice, these organisations will generally enlist the support of police officers from the territorial police forces should they need to execute arrest/search powers through a joint operation.
Bodies with investigatory powersThe following have quasi-police, investigative powers conferred by the The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Communications Data) (Additional Functions and Amendment) Order 2006[9]
Bodies with limited police powersIndependent Police Complaints CommissionThe Independent Police Complaints Commission investigates complaints against police officers and staff of the UK's police forces, and staff of HM Revenue and Customs, the Serious Organised Crime Agency in England and Wales and the UK Border Agency. Staff of the IPCC, for the purposes of the carrying out of an investigation and all purposes connected with it, have all the powers and privileges of constables throughout England and Wales and the territorial waters[10]. Serious Organised Crime AgencyThe Serious Organised Crime Agency is responsible for tackling organised crime with jurisdiction throughout England and Wales and some jurisdiction in Scotland and Northern Ireland (usually requiring permission or co-operation of the relevant government or police force). SOCA is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by, but operationally independent from, the Home Office. SOCA Officers can either be designated with the powers of a constable, Customs Officer and/or Immigration Officer. These designations can be unconditional or conditional: time limited or limited to a specific operation. Whilst SOCA Officers do not hold the office of constable, those who have been designated with the powers of a constable would enjoy the same powers and privileges of a police officer (except powers only available to a constable in uniform). During armed operations SOCA refer to themselves as 'police' and have the word 'police' on their body armour to avoid confusion. UK Border AgencyDesignated Immigration Officers (DIOs) employed by the UK Border Agency at a port in England, Wales or Northern Ireland may detain an individual if the immigration officer thinks that the individual may be liable to arrest by a constable under section 24(1), (2) or (3) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or Article 26(1), (2) or (3) of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, or if there is a warrant for their arrest[11]. They can be detaind for up to three hours, and can be pursued if they leave the port. If a DIO detains a person, they must arrange for a constable to attend as soon as is reasonably practicable. A DIO may arrest a person who has assaulted another DIO[12]. A DIO may search premises for nationality documents[13] and seize such documents if he finds them[14]. Miscellaneous constabulariesThese constabularies generally come under the control of a local authority, public trusts or even private companies; examples include some ports police and the Mersey Tunnels Police. They could have been established by individual Acts of Parliament or under Common Law powers. Jurisdiction is generally limited to the relevant area of private property alone and in some cases (e.g. docks and harbours) the surrounding area. This, together with the small size of the constabularies, means they are often reliant on the territorial force for the area under whose jurisdiction they fall to assist with any serious matter. These constabularies do not have independent Police Authorities and their founding statutes (if any) do not generally prescribe their structure and formation. Ports police
Officers of these forces are sworn in as special constables under section 79 of the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847. As a result, officers have the full powers of a constable on any land owned by the harbour, dock, or port and at any place within one mile of any owned land. Serious or major incidents or crime generally become the responsibility of the local Home Office police force.
Parks, Gardens and Forests not controlled by local authoritiesThese small constabularies are responsible for policing specific land and parks. Officers of these forces have the powers of a constable within their limited jurisdiction. They are not constables as dealt with in the general Police Acts.
The Parks Regulation Act 1872 provides for the attestation of parks constables. Local Authority Parks and Open Spaces in Greater LondonThese constabularies are responsible for enforcing bye-laws within the parks and open spaces of their respective local authorities in Greater London. Members of the constabularies are sworn as constables under section 18, Ministry of Housing and Local Government Provision Order Confirmation (Greater London Parks and Open Spaces) Act 1967. However, constables of these parks constabularies are not 'constables' as defined in the Police Acts applicable to England and Wales and any powers above that of a 'person other than a constable' depend on the relevant byelaws and any legislation applicable to their limited territories.
Some of these constables have (or have had) a shared role as security staff for their own local authority's buildings and housing estates with appropriate changes of badges and/or uniform being made when changing to/from park duties. Other
Crown dependencies and Overseas TerritoriesCrown dependencies
Overseas Territories
Military policeIn British Forces Germany, under the Status Of Forces Act, military police have jurisdiction and primacy over British Forces personnel, their families, MOD contractors, and NAAFI staff. In the UK, they also enjoy similar powers. Overseas law enforcement agencies in the UKThere are certain instances where police forces of other nations operate in a limited degree in the United Kingdom:
Fictional police forcesIn the majority of crime fiction, in print or on screen, set in the UK, real police forces are often used as the basis of the drama (though often set in fictional locations). However, there have been some works of fiction that have created their own police forces:
See also
References
Further reading
External links
fr:Liste des forces de police au Royaume-Uni no:Liste over britiske politistyrker simple:List of police forces in the United Kingdom Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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