Chief constable

Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry of Defence Police, and Civil Nuclear Constabulary. The title is also held by the chief officers of the principal Crown Dependency police forces, the Isle of Man Constabulary, States of Guernsey Police Service, and States of Jersey Police. The title was also held, ex officio, by the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers under the Police Reform Act 2002.[1] It was also the title of the chief officer of the Royal Parks Constabulary until this agency was disbanded in 2004.

Throughout the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies there are currently fifty chief constables. These consist of the chief officers of 37 English territorial forces outside London, four Welsh territorial forces, the Police Service of Scotland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, three special national forces and three Crown Dependency constabularies.

The chief officers of some police departments in Canada also hold the title of chief constable. The chief officer of the Sovereign Base Areas Police also holds the title of chief constable.

History

The title is a derived from the original local parish constables of the 18th century and earlier. Constable and constabulary were terms adopted in an attempt to provide a historical link with the older forces - the term is derived from the Latin comes stabuli (keeper of the stables)[2] - and to emphasise local control. Much of the debate about policing in the early 19th century, when modern police forces were introduced in the United Kingdom, concerned fears that the new forces might become paramilitary agents of central government control. To this day other British police ranks, such as inspector and superintendent, are determinedly non-paramilitary – only police sergeants hold a quasi-military rank and even then the term sergeant had long existed as a non-military officer of subordinate rank.

The County Police Act 1839 gave the counties of England and Wales the opportunity to establish full-time police forces, headed by a chief constable who was appointed by the justices of the peace of the county. The first county to implement this was Wiltshire Constabulary, which appointed Captain Samuel Meredith RN its first chief constable on 28 November 1839.[3] Other counties followed this pattern; for instance, Essex appointed its first chief constable on 11 February 1840.[4]

Originally, most borough police forces were commanded by a head constable, although this rank was superseded by chief constable in most forces in the later 19th century and early 20th century and was almost completely abolished by the Police Act 1919. Liverpool City Police was the only large force to retain it until then.

The first woman to hold the rank of chief constable was Pauline Clare, appointed Chief Constable of the Lancashire Constabulary on 14 June 1995.[5]

Characteristics of office
Chief Constable

The population of areas for which chief constables are responsible varies from a few hundred thousand to two or three million and it is commonplace for chief constables for larger force areas to be drawn from the chief constables of smaller forces. A chief constable has no senior officer. Prior to 2012, a chief constable was responsible to a police authority. The chief constable is now appointed by and accountable to the Police and Crime Commissioner of their service, who may also dismiss the chief constable.

The chief constable's badge of rank, worn on the epaulettes, consists of crossed tipstaves in a laurel wreath, surmounted by a crown.[6] This is similar to the insignia of a lieutenant-general in the British Army and is also worn by an assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police.

The chief constable is assisted by a deputy chief constable (DCC) and one or more assistant chief constables (ACC). The chief constable, DCC and ACCs are collectively known as the "chief officers" of a force.

Salaries

The salaries of chief constables vary from force to force, primarily on the basis of the population of their force's territory, but the amounts are fixed centrally. From 1 September 2010, the highest paid is the chief constable of Northern Ireland, on £193,548, in recognition of the unique security challenges and political sensitivity of that office. Other salaries range from £181,455 in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, down to £127,017. The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and their deputy are paid significantly more than any chief constable, partly because the Metropolitan Police has national anti-terrorism and security duties that overlap with other local forces, but also because the Metropolitan Police is by far the largest force in the country. As of 2011, the commissioner earns an annual salary of £260,088, whilst their deputy earns £214,722.[7]

Current chief officers (United Kingdom and Crown dependencies)

The table below lists the chief officers of British and Crown dependency police forces. The majority of these officers are titled 'chief constable', but some hold other or additional titles such as commissioner or chief executive.

Police forceChief officer nameDate appointed
Avon & Somerset ConstabularyAndy Marsh[8] 1 February 2016
Bedfordshire PoliceGarry Forsyth[9] July 2019
British Transport PolicePaul Crowther, OBE March 2014[10]
Cambridgeshire ConstabularyNick Dean[11] September 2018
Cheshire ConstabularyDarren Martland[12] 2019
City of London PoliceIan Dyson, QPM (Commissioner)[13] 3 January 2016
Civil Nuclear ConstabularySimon Chesterman, QPM[14] 1 April 2019
Cleveland ConstabularyRichard Lewis April 2019
Cumbria ConstabularyMichelle Skeer[15] Acting since December 2015;[16] April 2018
Derbyshire ConstabularyRachel Swann 14 August 2020[17]
Devon and Cornwall ConstabularyShaun Sawyer[18] February 2014[19]
Dorset PoliceDebbie Simpson[20] October 2012[21]
Durham ConstabularyJo Farrell[22] June 2019[23]
Dyfed-Powys PoliceMark Collins[24] January 2017[25]
Essex PoliceB. J. Harrington[26] 4 October 2018
Gloucestershire ConstabularyRod Hansen[27] February 2013[28]
Greater Manchester PoliceIan Pilling Temporary - January 2021[29]
Gwent PolicePam Kelly 1 July 2019[30]
Hampshire ConstabularyOlivia Pinkney, QPM[31] April 2016
Hertfordshire ConstabularyCharlie Hall, QPMOctober 2016
Humberside PoliceLee Freeman 26 June 2017
Isle of Man ConstabularyGary Roberts[32] 1 January 2013
Kent PoliceAlan Pughsley[33] January 2014
Lancashire ConstabularyAndy Rhodes[34] July 2017
Leicestershire ConstabularySimon Cole, QPM[35] June 2010
Lincolnshire PoliceBill Skelly[36] February 2017[36]
Merseyside PoliceAndy Cooke, QPM[37] July 2016
Metropolitan PoliceDame Cressida Dick, DBE, QPM (Commissioner) 10 April 2017[38]
Ministry of Defence PoliceAndy Adams[39] 17 May 2018[39]
Norfolk ConstabularySimon Bailey, QPM 25 October 2013[40]
North Wales PoliceCarl Foulkes 11 September 2018
Northamptonshire PoliceNick Adderley 6 August 2018
Northumbria Police Winton Keenen[41] 26 March 2018[41]
North Yorkshire ConstabularyLisa Winward[42]
Nottinghamshire PoliceCraig Guildford[43] 1 February 2017
Police ScotlandIain Livingstone[44]
Police Service of Northern IrelandSimon Byrne, July 2019[45]
South Wales PoliceMatt Jukes, QPM[46] January 2018[46]
South Yorkshire PoliceStephen Watson[47] July 2016
Sovereign Base Areas PoliceMick Matthews[48]
Staffordshire PoliceGareth Morgan June 2017[49]
States of Guernsey Police ServiceRuari Hardy (Chief Officer) 2018
States of Jersey PoliceRobin Smith (Chief Officer) November 2019[50]
Suffolk ConstabularyGareth Wilson[51] January 2016
Surrey PoliceGavin Stephens[52] April 2019
Sussex PoliceJo Shiner
Thames Valley PoliceJohn Campbell April 2015[53]
Warwickshire ConstabularyMartin Jelley[54] 1 April 2015
West Mercia ConstabularyAnthony Bangham[55] August 2016
West Midlands PoliceDave Thompson, QPM January 2016[56]
West Yorkshire PoliceDee Collins, CBE, QPM[57][58] Temporary from June 2014; Substantive as of 11 November 2016[59]
Wiltshire ConstabularyKier Pritchard[60] March 2018

Metropolitan Police

In London, the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police are led by commissioners rather than chief constables. Chief constable was, however, a lower rank in the Metropolitan Police which existed between 1886 and 1946.

In 1869, the divisions of the Metropolitan Police were grouped into four districts, and four new officers called district superintendents were appointed to command them, ranking between the divisional superintendents and the two assistant commissioners. These officers were to be generally military officers, civil servants or lawyers who were directly appointed to the rank. This caused a certain amount of concern, since some saw it as the creation of an "officer class" for the police, which had always been resisted.

In 1886, the rank of district superintendent was renamed chief constable, as it was decided that it could be confused with the divisional superintendents. Unlike their superiors, chief constables were actually sworn into the office of constable, hence the name. A fifth chief constable was later created in the Criminal Investigation Department. The rank became junior to the new rank of deputy assistant commissioner in 1919.

In 1933, the districts were taken over by deputy assistant commissioners, with the chief constables remaining as their deputies. In 1946, the rank was renamed deputy commander.

The rank badge of a Metropolitan Police chief constable consisted of crossed tipstaves in a wreath.

See also

References
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  3. Wiltshire Constabulary History Archived 18 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Wiltshire Police website
  4. The Making of a Chief Constable Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Essex Police website
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