Northumbria Police
Northumbria Police is the
Home Office police force responsible for policing the counties of
Northumberland and
Tyne and Wear in England. It is the sixth largest police constabulary in England or
Wales. As of April
2005, the current
Chief Constable is
Mike Craik. The headquarters of the force are located at
Ponteland, near Newcastle Airport. Former Chief Constables include
Crispian Strachan CBE and
John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington.
The force was formed in
1974 and was a merger of the old
Northumberland Constabulary along with part of the
Durham Constabulary. The police forces for the
county boroughs of
South Shields,
Gateshead,
Sunderland,
Newcastle upon Tyne and
Tynemouth had already been amalgamated into their respective county forces in the late
1960s, with the
Berwick-upon-Tweed police having been merged into Northumberland in 1921. [
1]
Under proposals made by the
Home Secretary on
February 6,
2006, it would merge with
Cleveland Police and
Durham Constabulary to form a single strategic police force for the
North East England. Both Northumbria and Durham favour this proposal, while Cleveland has expressed a wish that it be merged with the southern area of the Durham Force.[
2][
3]
*
Official website*
List of police forces in the United Kingdom*
Policing in the United Kingdom
