Gloucestershire Constabulary Explained

Agencyname:Gloucestershire Constabulary
Badge:Gloucestershire Constabulary badge.svg
Formedyear:1839
Employees:2,377 (Sept 2023)
Volunteers:346 Police Support Volunteers (Sept 2023)
Budget:£107.2 million (as of 2017–18)[1]
Country:United Kingdom
Countryabbr:UK
Divtype:country
Divname:England
Subdivtype:Police area
Subdivname:Gloucestershire
Map:England Police Forces (Gloucestershire).svg
Sizearea:1024sqmi[2]
Sizepopulation:637,000
Legaljuris:England & Wales
Constitution1:Police Act 1996
Police:yes
Local:yes
Oversightbody:
Headquarters:Quedgeley, Gloucester
Sworntype:Constable
Sworn:1301, and 114 special constables (Sept 2023)
Unsworntype:Police community support officer
Unsworn:119 (Sept 2023)
Electeetype:Police and Crime Commissioner
Minister1name:Chris Nelson
Chief1name:Rod Hansen
Chief1position:Chief constable
Unittype:Local Policing Area

Gloucestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire in South West England.

The force formerly covered the area of South Gloucestershire, however this was transformed to the newly formed Avon and Somerset Constabulary in 1974.

History

The force was founded in 1839, six hours after Wiltshire Constabulary, making it the second rural police force formed in Britain.[3] The force in its present form dates from 1 April 1974, when the southern part of Gloucestershire became part of the County of Avon and thus covered by the newly formed Avon and Somerset Constabulary.[4]

In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,010 and an actual strength of 867.[5]

Between 2010 and 2019, the force lost 238 officers due to Government budget cuts.[6]

From 2013 to 2019, specialist teams – roads, firearms and police dogs – operated in a "tri-force" collaboration with the Avon and Somerset, and Wiltshire forces.[7] In April 2019, this arrangement was ended by the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, Martin Surl, following Avon and Somerset Police withdrawing from the alliance.[8]

In 2019, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services rated the force as 'inadequate' for crime reporting arrangements, after finding that over 7,900 incidents of crime in the county per year, and only 69.2% of violent crimes were recorded accurately.[9] [10] The inspection also found 38% of victims were not informed when crime reports were cancelled.[11]

In 2020, the force opened a new police academy, the Sabrina Centre, on the grounds of the former Berkeley Nuclear Power Station.[12] This coincided with the force offering new Police Constable Degree Apprenticeships in partnership with the University of South Wales.

Chief constables

Officers killed in the line of duty

See also: List of British police officers killed in the line of duty. The Police Roll of Honour Trust and Police Memorial Trust list and commemorate all British police officers killed in the line of duty. Since its establishment in 1984, the Police Memorial Trust has erected 50 memorials nationally to some of those officers.

Since 1817 the following officers of Gloucestershire Constabulary were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress:[15]

Operations

The force serves 637,000 people over an area of 1024sqmi. and covers a number of royal residences, as well as Cheltenham Racecourse and the headquarters of GCHQ.[16]

, the force consisted of 1,301 police officers, 119 police community support officers, 114 special constables and 397 police support volunteers.[17]

Day-to-day policing in the county is split into 55 local communities, organised by three Local Policing Areas each overseen by a superintendent: Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, Gloucester and the Forest of Dean, and Cotswolds and Stroud.[18] Each of these areas contains a Local Policing Team, providing an initial response to incidents, as well as a Neighbourhood Policing Team, which manage local concerns.[19]

Special Constabulary

, the force had 113 special constables,[20] who are mainly embedded in the Local Policing Teams and Neighbourhood Policing teams.[21] A number of officers have been upskilled in rural crime and the use of 4x4 off-road vehicles to enhance the force's capability in this area.[22]

Mounted unit

Gloucestershire Constabulary introduced a mounted police unit based at Highnam Court for a trial period in 2016, following the conclusion of an eighteen-month study in 2014 by both the University of Oxford and the RAND Corporation. The study surveyed whether the presence of mounted police on regular neighbourhood patrols would improve community engagement with the police, with results showing that members of the public were six times as likely to engage with police on horseback compared to police on foot patrol.[23]

Two horses were initially acquired by Gloucestershire Constabulary from the Metropolitan Police's Mounted Section for the trial unit in 2016, the first horses owned by the force since the 1940s,[24] with the section growing to four horses and three mounted officers by the time the trial concluded in August 2017. The force opted to retain the Mounted Section following the trial;[25] in December 2021, the unit was retained again following a review by Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson into the cost and overall effectiveness of the unit, which had grown to consist of six horses when the review was undertaken.[26]

PEEL inspection

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) conducts a periodic police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection of each police service's performance. In its latest PEEL inspection, Gloucestershire Constabulary was rated as follows:[27]

Following the 2021 report, HMICFRS reinspected the force in July 2023. They found the force was still inadequate in the area of "Responding to the Public", however had improved in all other areas previously found "Inadequate".[28]

Investigations

In 2015, Gloucestershire police were able to show using biomechanical evidence that Robert Nowak was the driver of a car involved in a crash in 2013 in which his friend Michal Sobolak was killed. Nowak was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and seven years' disqualification from driving for Causing Death by Dangerous Driving, Conspiring to Pervert the Course of Justice and Driving whilst Disqualified.[29] [30] [31]

Race and sex discrimination in recruitment

In November 2006, a tribunal ruled that the constabulary had illegally discriminated against 108 white male candidates it had rejected from its recruitment process solely because of their race and sex in trying to reach government targets for hiring underrepresented groups. Matt Powell, one of the "randomly deselected" candidates, took legal action and was awarded £2,500 compensation. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Equal Opportunities Commission who led the investigation stated that the Gloucestershire Police had unlawfully discriminated on the grounds of race and sex. The same illegal policy was also used by Avon and Somerset Constabulary.[32] [33]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/police-forces/gloucestershire-constabulary/areas/gloucestershire/about-us/about-us/summary-of-policing/
  2. Web site: Overview: Gloucestershire Constabulary . HMICFRS . 9 June 2021.
  3. Web site: Johns. Adam. Gloucestershire Constabulary the Second Oldest County Force in the United Kingdom. 2020-10-29. Gloucestershire Police Archives. en.
  4. Web site: History of the force. 2020-10-29. Avon and Somerset Police. en-GB.
  5. The Thin Blue Line, Police Council for Great Britain Staff Side Claim for Undermanning Supplements, 1965
  6. Web site: Boobyer. Leigh. 2019-07-30. How many police county should get from Boris's recruitment drive. 2020-10-29. GloucestershireLive. en.
  7. Web site: Police dogs, firearms and road officers comes back in house after Tri Force disbanded. 2019-06-10. Wiltshire Times. en. 2019-06-10.
  8. Web site: 2018-11-21. Tri-force alliance collapses after discussions 'ended without agreement'. 2020-10-29. polfed.org. en-GB.
  9. Web site: 2019-07-25. Gloucestershire Constabulary fails to record almost 8,000 crimes a year, warns report. 2020-10-29. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. en-GB.
  10. Web site: Boobyer. Leigh. 2019-07-24. Gloucestershire police 'failing to record 8,000 crimes per year'. 2020-10-29. GloucestershireLive. en.
  11. Web site: Mabe. Huw. 2020-10-27. 'Concerns have been addressed' say police after crime reports wrongly cancelled. 2020-10-29. Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. en.
  12. Web site: 2020-04-30. Gloucestershire police officers start degree apprenticeship. 2020-10-29. gloucestershire.police.uk. en-gb.
  13. Web site: Early Policing in the Forest of Dean. Deanweb. 19 June 2018.
  14. Web site: Chief Constables. Gloucestershire Police. 22 June 2018.
  15. Web site: Police Roll of Honour Trust. Police Roll of Honour Trust. policememorial.org.uk.
  16. Web site: Summary of policing. 2020-10-29. gloucestershire.police.uk. en-gb.
  17. Web site: 2024-01-24 . Police workforce, England and Wales: 30 September 2023: data tables . 2024-02-02 . Home Office.
  18. Web site: 2020-09-09. Changes to policing in the county announced. 2020-10-29. gloucestershire.police.uk. en-gb.
  19. Web site: What we do. 2020-10-29. gloucestershire.police.uk. en-gb.
  20. Web site: Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2020: data tables second edition. Home Office. 2020-10-29. 2020-08-13.
  21. Web site: Special constables. 2020-10-29. gloucestershire.police.uk. en-gb.
  22. Web site: 2020-06-05. Neighbourhood Policing officers and Special Constables receive training to drive off-road vehicles. 2020-10-29. gloucestershire.police.uk. en-gb.
  23. News: Gloucestershire: Police Horses Patrol The County . 10 September 2023 . Heart Radio . 30 April 2014.
  24. News: Gloucestershire Police unveil new mounted unit . 10 September 2023 . Gloucestershire Gazette . 24 March 2016.
  25. Web site: Elder . Lucy . Police horses to remain 'on the beat' after successful trial . Horse & Hound . 28 August 2017 . 10 September 2023.
  26. News: Garcia . Carmelo . Gloucestershire Police to retain horse unit following review . 10 September 2023 . Stroud News & Journal . 22 December 2021.
  27. Web site: PEEL 2021/22 Police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy: An inspection of Gloucestershire Constabulary . . 27 October 2021 . 29 January 2022.
  28. Web site: Gloucestershire Constabulary: PEEL Cause of Concern revisit letter . 2024-02-02 . His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services . en-GB.
  29. Web site: Latest Gloucestershire Cheltenham news – Gloucestershire Live. 11 September 2016.
  30. Web site: Man and woman receive prison sentences for fatal road traffic collision in Cheltenham in 2013. 11 September 2016.
  31. Web site: Police prove lying driver killed his friend – by using Virtual Reality. John. Shammas. Daily Mirror. 15 May 2015. 11 September 2016.
  32. News: Force admits rejecting white men. BBC News. 22 September 2006. 3 April 2011.
  33. Web site: 2006-09-21. Police force admits discriminating against white recruits. 2020-10-29. Evening Standard. London. en.