The Police from 1856

In 1856, the government made a law that every County, as well as the towns, must provide a police force. Inspectors of Constabulary were appointed to make sure that these police forces were doing their job properly. If they were, the government gave them a grant of money to help run their force.

When County Councils were created in 1888, they each formed a committee, to run the local police force. A Chief Constable was appointed to look after the everyday work of the Force. Today this Council is known as the Police Authority.

The Police Today

Today there are 43 Police Forces in England and Wales. There is also the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own Police Forces organised in the same way but using slightly different laws. The largest Police Force is the Metropolitan Police with about 28,000 officers.

Different Police Forces do not have different functions. Everyone who joins a British Police Force starts as a Uniform Constable and for the first two years he or she trains both at a College away from home and on the beat with a tutor constable. On successful completion of these two years they are appointed and serve usually for the next 30 years or until they have to retire at 55 years of age.

There are then many opportunities for a Police Officer to specialise in different branches of the Force. Some choose to work as plain clothes detectives either on Divisions or dealing with drugs or fraud. Others prefer to work in uniform and specialise in crime prevention, road traffic duties on busy roads and motorways or with dogs or Tactical Firearms and Public Order Units. After passing examinations and interviews it is possible for any Officer to be promoted through the ranks to Chief Constable. There is no system of direct entry to the higher ranks, everyone starts as a uniform constable.

Today many of the roles previously carried out by Police Officers are done by civilian members of staff. These include administration, scenes of crime and forensic work, some training, communications, the manning of custody suites and the transporting of prisoners to and from prison.

In the future it is likely that more functions will also be taken from the Police and given to other private institutions in an effort by the government to keep the costs of policing as low as possible. Only time will tell how far this will go.

2. National identification bureau

Criminal and fingerprint records are among the most important aids in fighting crime and are centralised in the National Identification Bureau at New Scotland Yard. From there a service is provided to all police forces in the country under strict security arrangements.

Headed by a Commander, the National Identification Bureau consists of two parts, the National Criminal Records Office and the National Fingerprint Office.