Bristol Constabulary, also called Bristol City Police, was a police force responsible for policing the city of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in south-west

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from its foundation in 1835 until 1974, when it was amalgamated under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

with

Somerset and Bath Constabulary Somerset and Bath Constabulary was a short-lived police force in England which existed from 1967 to 1974. It was responsible for policing the administrative county of Somerset and the county borough of Bath. The force was formed following the ama ...

and parts of the

Gloucestershire Constabulary Gloucestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire in England. The force formerly covered the area of South Gloucestershire, however this was transformed to the ...

to form the

Avon and Somerset Constabulary Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the county of Somerset and in four districts that used to be in the defunct county of Avon: Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and So ...

. At the time of its formation, Bristol Constabulary had an establishment of 232 officers, and was led by Superintendent Joseph Bishop, who had been appointed from the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. By 1866 the force had grown to 296 officers, and by 1945 to 814. At the time of its amalgamation into the

on 1 April 1974, the force had 1247 officers. Unlike most city forces, the force was officially a

constabulary Constabulary may have several definitions: *A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and som ...

, the usual name given to county forces, since Bristol was a county as well as a city.

References

Defunct police forces of England History of Bristol {{UK-gov-stub

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References