Hertfordshire Constabulary

Infobox UK Police
name= Hertfordshire Constabulary
area= Hertfordshire
start= 1947 (merger)
population= 1.5 million
size= 3,900+
officers= 2,145
budget= £165 Million
title=Chief Constable
head= Frank Whiteley
divname= Divisions
divno= 3
stations= 26
HQ= Welwyn Garden City

---

number= 999 (Emergency)
number2= 0845 3300 222
web= http://www.herts.police.uk/

Hertfordshire Constabulary is the Home Office Police force responsible for policing the county of Hertfordshire in England. Its headquarters is situated in Welwyn Garden City. The force is headed by Chief Constable Frank Whiteley and it's manpower consists of over 3,900 Police Officers and Staff, supported by more than 250 Special Constables.

Hertfordshire Constabulary is consistently rated among the top 5 forces, making Hertfordshire one of the safest Counties to live in.

History

The Constabulary was founded in 1841, under the County Police Act, five years after the Hertford Borough Police and St Albans Borough Police had been formed. In 1889, the Hertford Borough Police force was merged into Hertfordshire. St Albans remained independent until 1947.

Until 2000, parts of Hertfordshire (Hertsmere and part of Broxbourne council areas) were in the Metropolitan Police District and covered by the Metropolitan Police Service. [http://www.met.police.uk/enfield/history.htm]

In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,317 officers and an actual strength of 885. ["The Thin Blue Line", Police Council for Great Britain Staff Side Claim for Undermanning Supplements, 1965]

Organisation

Since 2001 the Constabulary has been divided into 3 Areas (having formerly been divided into 9 Divisions A – K) each headed by a Chief Superintendent. "(Stations in italics)"

Eastern Area (Area Headquarters in Stevenage)
*(A) East Herts, - "Hertford and Ware, Bishop's Stortford , Buntingford and Sawbridgeworth"
*(E) Stevenage– "(single station)"
*(G) North Hertfordshire. - "Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City, Baldock and Royston"
*(K) Broxbourne, - "Cheshunt and Hoddesdon"

Central Area (Area Headquarters in Hatfield)
*(B) Welwyn Hatfield - "Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City"
*(F) City and District of St Albans - "St Albans, Harpenden and London Colney"
*(J) Hertsmere - "Borehamwood, Bushey and Potters Bar"

Western Area (Area Headquarters in Watford)
*(C) Watford Three Rivers - "Watford, Rickmansworth, Oxhey and North Watford"
*(D) Dacorum - "Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring"

Each Area comprises various units including:
*Intervention & Response (responding to 999 calls and on general patrol),
*Neighbourhood (covering local & quality of life issues),
*Plain clothes and Detective Units (Local Crime, Case Investigation, Tactical Team),
*Intelligence and Tasking Units,
*Roads Policing (Traffic)The Areas are supported by numerous centrally based units (H) operating from the Force Headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, such as Firearms, Dog Section, Air Support, Control Room, Forensic Services and Major Crime.

Contacting

Hertfordshire Constabulary operates Emergency (999/112) and non-emergency (0845 3300 222) telephone numbers. The Force Contact Centre receives an average of 3000 calls a day and prioritises Police responses according to the nature of the received call.

The Constabulary also complies fully with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and has been approved by the Information Commissioner. The Force maintains a 'transparent' service, whilst restricting some information for security purposes.Elements of an arrest made in May 2004 breached the ECHR and Hertfordshire Constabulary is to be brought before the Court of Jutsice in Strasbourg over the wrongful arrest of an innocent man

Joint Operations

Hertfordshire Constabulary regularly co-operates with its Neighbouring Forces in joint operations, including a joint Major Crime Unit and two Police Helicopters that operate from RAF Benson and RAF Henlow in partnership with Thames Valley Police and Bedfordshire Constabulary.

Merger proposal

Proposals made by the Home Secretary on March 20, 2006 would see the force merge with neighbouring forces Bedfordshire Police and Essex Police to form a strategic police force. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4825524.stm] BBC News ] However in July 2006 Prime Minister Tony Blair signalled that police force mergers will not be forced through by the central government, and given the amount of local opposition to such mergers it is not expected that any voluntary mergers will be carried out. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/13/nblair13.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/07/13/ixuknews.html Blair accused of wasting police time on mergers] , "Daily Telegraph", 13 July 2006.]

References

ee also

*List of police forces in the United Kingdom
*Policing in the United Kingdom
*Road Policing Unit

External links

* [http://www.herts.police.uk/index.php Official website]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/6969909.stm Shootings]