North Wales Police ( cy, Heddlu Gogledd Cymru) is the
territorial police force A territorial police force is a police service that is responsible for an area defined by sub-national boundaries, distinguished from other police services which deal with the entire country or a type of crime. In countries organized as federations, ...
responsible for policing
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
. Its headquarters are in
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
. , the force has 1,510
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
s, 170
special constables, 182
police community support officers (PCSO), 71
police support volunteers (PSV), and 984 staff.
History
![North Wales Police H](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/North_Wales_Police_H.Q.%2C_Colwyn_Bay_526599_5ab40432.jpg)
Gwynedd Constabulary was formed in 1950 by the amalgamation of
Caernarvonshire Constabulary
Caernarvonshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Caernarvonshire, Wales from 1856 until 1950.
History
The Constabulary was formed in 1856, under the County and Borough Police Act 1856, to replace the existing par ...
,
Anglesey Constabulary
Anglesey Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Anglesey, Wales from 1856 until 1950.
History
The Constabulary was formed in 1856, under the County and Borough Police Act 1856, to replace the existing parish constable ...
, and
Merionethshire Constabulary under the
Police Act 1946
The Police Act 1946 (1946 c.46) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provided for the amalgamation of smaller borough police forces with county constabularies in England and Wales, allowed for the merger of county ...
. In 1965, the force had an establishment of 308 and an actual strength of 296.
Flintshire Constabulary
Flintshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Flintshire, Wales, from 1856 until 1967.
History
the Constabulary was formed in 1856, under the County and Borough Police Act 1856, to replace the existing parish const ...
and
Denbighshire Constabulary
Denbighshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Denbighshire, Wales from 1840 until 1967.
History
The Constabulary was formed in 1840, under the County Police Act 1839, to replace the existing parish constables re ...
were merged into the force in 1967, but they retained their existing name. On 1 April 1974, the
Local Government Act 1972 created an administrative county of
Gwynedd covering part of the police area (equivalent to the original Gwynedd Constabulary area). To avoid confusion, the force was renamed North Wales Police.
Under proposals made by the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
on 6 February 2006, the force would merge with
Dyfed-Powys Police,
Gwent Police
Gwent Police ( cy, Heddlu Gwent) is a territorial police force in Wales, responsible for policing the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.
The force was formed in 1967 by the amalgamation o ...
and
South Wales Police
South Wales Police ( cy, Heddlu De Cymru) is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. It is headquartered in Bridgend.
The force was formed as South Wales Constabulary on 1 June 1969, by the amalgamation of the former Glamorgan Cons ...
to form a single strategic force for all of Wales. The proposals were later shelved.
In May 2011, North Wales Police completed a major restructuring, moving from three territorial divisions to a single North Wales-wide policing function.
Governance
Since November 2012, the force has been overseen by the
North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner
The North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by North Wales Police in the Welsh principal areas of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flints ...
. It was previously overseen by a police authority, consisting of 17 members (nine councillors, three magistrates and five independent members). The councillors were appointed by a joint committee from
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
,
Conwy
Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...
,
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
,
Flintshire
, settlement_type = County
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, image_shield = Arms of Flint ...
,
Gwynedd and
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
councils.
Collaborations
![North Wales Police (Heddlu) - Ford Focus - CX08 CHY](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/North_Wales_Police_%28Heddlu%29_-_Ford_Focus_-_CX08_CHY.jpg)
North Wales Police is a partner in the following collaboration:
*
North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit
* North Wales and Cheshire Firearms Alliance
* Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit
Controversy
In the 2000s, North Wales Police attracted a great deal of media attention, largely attributed to its former chief constable,
Richard Brunstrom, who was a controversial figure, mainly because of his vocal views on speeding motorists and the legalisation of drugs. ''
The Sun'' newspaper dubbed him the "Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taleban." However, he also earned respect for modernising the force's infrastructure, and learning the
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...
, actively promoting the normalisation of its use within the force at all levels and conversing publicly through it on numerous occasions.
In April 2007, Brunstrom came under fire for an incident in which he showed a photograph of the severed head of a biker in a press meeting without the family's permission, to make a point about road safety. The photo enabled the media to identify the deceased since he was wearing a distinctive T-shirt with an anti-police message on it, which gained a lot of attention during the inquest. Brunstrom maintained (in both the invitation and verbally) that it was a "closed" meeting, and that no details of the picture should have been leaked. ''
Motorcycle News
''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspaper".
The title was founded in lat ...
'' magazine handed in a 1,600 signature petition to the
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.
On 8 January 2018, th ...
requesting Brunstrom be removed. The IPCC confirmed that it would carry out an independent review into the incident.
North Wales Police has also attracted attention due to its investigation into allegations of
anti-Welsh comments by TV personality
Anne Robinson
Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was the host of BBC game show '' The Weakest Link'' (2000–2017). She presented the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'' from June 2021 to Jul ...
and UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
. The force was believed to have carried out these investigations following complaints from members of the public. The ten-month investigation into the Prime Minister was dropped on 11 July 2006 due to a lack of evidence. It had cost £1,656, whereas the Anne Robinson investigation cost £3,800.
North Wales Police is one of only three forces in England and Wales (the others being neighbouring
Dyfed-Powys Police and the
British Transport Police
, nativename =
, abbreviation = BTP
, patch =
, patchcaption =
, logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg
, logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police
, badge =
, badgecaption =
, f ...
) to equip their police community support officers with handcuffs, which remains controversial.
, North Wales Police had 159 PCSOs.
Between April 2017 and April 2019, the
Independent Office for Police Conduct
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales which, since 8 January 2018, is responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and W ...
twice investigated the circumstances behind the
murder of Nicholas Churton. Additionally, a separate inquiry about the allegations made by
Ian Lucas
Ian Colin Lucas (born 18 September 1960) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wrexham, Wales from 2001 to 2019. He was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform in the ...
, Member of Parliament for Wrexham that he had been misled about the case by Mark Polin, the chief constable.
Chief constables
See also
*
Police forces of Wales
*
*
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Most law enforcement is carried out by police officers serving in regional po ...
*
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS; cy, Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub Gogledd Cymru) is the fire and rescue service covering the principal areas of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham in the north of Wales. ...
References
External links
*
North Wales Policeat
HMICFRS
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the police forces of England and Wales, and since ...
*
{{Authority control
Police forces of Wales
Gwynedd
Organisations based in Conwy County Borough
Denbighshire
Anglesey
Flintshire
Wrexham County Borough
Government agencies established in 1967
1967 establishments in Wales
Welsh police authorities