Berkshire Constabulary

Berkshire Constabulary is a former Home Office police force which was responsible for policing the county of Berkshire in Southern England. Berkshire Constabulary was merged with several other adjacent police forces in 1968 to form the Thames Valley Police.

Formed in 1856, the Constabulary was headquartered near Forbury Gardens in Reading, until it moved in 1952 to Sulhamstead House (then called the "White House"), purchased by the Berkshire Country Council five years earlier for £53,000. The house is currently the Thames Valley Police Training College and Thames Valley Police Museum.

Berkshire was amalgamated with several other smaller forces during its existence, including the Abingdon Borough Police, Maidenhead Borough Council, Newbury Borough Police, Wallingford Borough Police and Wantage Borough Police. The Windsor Borough Police remained an independent force, due to the Royal presence at Windsor Castle, until it merged with Berkshire in 1947.

In 1965, Berkshire Constabulary had an establishment of 603 and an actual strength of 480. ["The Thin Blue Line", Police Council for Great Britain Staff Side Claim for Undermanning Supplements, 1965]

On April 1 1968, Thames Valley Police was formed by amalgamating Berkshire Constabulary with Buckinghamshire Constabulary, the Oxford City Police, the Oxfordshire Constabulary and the Reading Borough Police.

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news_info/info/museum/pre-history.htm A pre-history of Thames Valley Police] , Thames Valley Police