Police officer rank in the United Kingdom
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
) and the
Sovereign Base Areas Police
in Cyprus. 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.
History
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The title is 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
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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
. In
England and Wales
, the chief constable is now appointed by and accountable to the
Police and Crime Commissioner
of their service, or to an
elected mayor
, 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
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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 the
West Midlands
and
Greater Manchester
, 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]
Metropolitan Police
[
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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. Their rank badge consisted of crossed
tipstaves
in a wreath.
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
. In 1919 the rank became junior to the new rank of
deputy assistant commissioners
, who took over the districts in 1933, with the chief constables remaining as their deputies until the latter rank was finally renamed
deputy commander
in 1946.
See also
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References
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