The Police - Serving the Community
Whatever work the police do - from directing traffic to football crowd security, from preventing organised crime to detective work with hi-tech scientific back-up - they do for us. Their duty is based around the needs of the community to be protected from crime, the effects of crime and the fear of crime.
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In Britain, policing has developed over the centuries into today's professional police service, serving the community, preventing crime and apprehending criminals. For many years there was no such thing as a 'police force' - it was the duty of everyone in the country to catch criminals. There was not always law and order.
The police in Britain deal with about six million 999 emergency calls a year and are faced with more and more complicated crimes. Recent developments to help them target resources and meet the ever-changing challenges of protecting society include:
- taking a fresh look at how to prevent and tackle crime;
- working in closer partnership with the community;
- streamlining its own management structures; and
- using the latest technology
The support and consent of the public are essential to effective policing.
Police Forces
There are 43 police forces and more than 127,000 police officers in England and Wales - about one for every 400 people. The size of individual forces depends on both population and area. Where fewer people live, one force can cover a larger area, for example Devon and Cornwall.
At the head of each force is the Chief Constable (except in London, where the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police are each headed by a Commissioner). A Chief Constable is responsible for the day to day management of policing in the area and for overall command of the operations the police carry out on the public's behalf.
To keep policing in tune with local needs, the areas are broken down into Divisions, each under the leadership of a Superintendent. Each Divisional headquarters controls a network of local stations. Home beat, crime prevention and other community officers work from individual police stations, which also have their own criminal investigation department (CID), police cells and communications centres.
To create a police service that reflects the community it serves, forces encourage women and people from ethnic minority communities to apply for jobs. Of the 127,000 or more police officers in England and Wales, more than 18,500 are women and more than 2,300 officers are from ethnic minorities. In 1995, Pauline Clare of Lancashire Constabulary became the first women Chief Constable. In 1997, Wiltshire Constabulary became the second force to appoint a woman as Chief Constable. In May 1996 Tariq Ghaffur became the first ethnic minority officer to be appointed as an Assistant Chief Constable, with Lancashire Constabulary.
London's Metropolitan Police is the largest single force. Each of its five areas is about the size of a complete force elsewhere in the country. Its headquarters are at New Scotland Yard. The name Scotland Yard had become so strongly linked in the public's imagination with the Metropolitan Police that when they built a new centre they took the name with them. Each area of London has its own operational and administrative responsibilities. The City of London has its own police force.
Police Constables
Police Constable (PC) is the key rank in the police service. Nearly three-quarters of all the police officers in England and Wales are police constables.
PCs do the bulk of what people usually think of as police work - patrolling the streets on foot or in cars, answering calls for assistance, giving advice to the public, dealing with disturbances, handling enquiries, dealing with arrested people at the police station. PCs have to deal with a whole range of crimes, from violent offences and burglary to shoplifting and car crime.
It is the constable who meets the public and usually has to make the first - often vital - decisions on the spot at an incident. Constables need an understanding of the community in which they serve, they need good communication skills and have to be hardworking and understanding.
All police officers start their careers as PCs, and many stay as PCs because it gives them the chance to be in touch with the public and be involved with front-line policing all the time.
To join the police, a candidate must be:
- aged over 18½;
- of a high standard of physical fitness, with good health and eyesight; and
- a British citizen, a Commonwealth citizen with no restrictions on his or her stay here, or a citizen of the Irish Republic.
All police officers go through the same basic training programme, serving for their first two years as a probationary constables. They train at one of the six national police training centres. Metropolitan Police Officers train at the Hendon Training Establishment. The Police Staff College at Bramshill trains officers for promotion and to become effective leaders in the police service.
For more information about how to join the police service, contact your local force.
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