West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police is the local police who are responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest local police force in England and Wales by number of police officers.

West Yorkshire Police
Motto In the Public Service
Agency Overview
Formed 1974
Preceding agencies
Employees 9,853
Volunteers 403[1]
Annual Budget £396.0 million[1]
Legal personality Governmental agency
Jurisdictional Structure
Divisional agency
(Operations jurisdiction)
Police area of West Yorkshire in the country of England , United Kingdom
England Police Forces (West Yorkshire).svg
Map of West Yorkshire Police's jurisdiction.
Size 2,029 km²
Population 2,108,000
Legal jurisdiction England & Wales
Constituting instrument Police Act 1996
General nature
Operational Structure
Overviewed by
Headquarters Wakefield
Constables 5,062 (including 493 Special Constables)[2]
Police Community Support Officers 689[2]
Mayor responsible Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
Agency executive John Robins, Chief Constable
Divisions 5
Facilities
Stations 41

History

West Yorkshire Police was made in 1974, when part of the West Yorkshire Constabulary (itself created in 1968, and being responsible for a much larger area) was joined with the Leeds City Police and Bradford City Police, under the Local Government Act 1972. The force was originally known as the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police. Some older signs around the Force area, such as the one near the Millgarth Police Station in Leeds city centre, read 'West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police'. The 'Metropolitan' from the police title was removed in 1986 when the Metropolitan counties were ended.[3][4] Suggestions made by the Home Secretary on 21 March 2006 would see the force join with North Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police to form a better police force for the entire region, but this suggestion failed.

On 12 December 2006, Sir Norman Bettison was announced as the new chief constable, replacing Colin Cramphorn and resigned from his position on 24 October 2012. He was replaced by Temporary Chief Constable John Parkinson until Mark Gilmore was made chief constable on 1 February 2013.

In 2018, it was thought West Yorkshire Police would lose 400 officers from its 4,800 officers due to austerity.[5]

Well-known cases

West Yorkshire Police Media

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Home Office Performance and Measurement: West Yorkshire Police". Archived from the original on 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Tables for 'Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2013". HM Government. Office for National Statistics. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  3. "West Yorkshire Police: Policing History". Archived from the original on 25 May 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. West Yorkshire Police: Policing Firsts Archived 15 June 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Police chiefs warn of fewer officers after Treasury shrinks budgets further". The Guardian. 23 October 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/23/police-chiefs-fewer-officers-treasury-shrinks-budgets-pensions. Retrieved 27 June 2021.