Leicestershire Police 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
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
and
Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
in
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 ...
. Its headquarters are at
Enderby, Leicestershire
Enderby is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the southwest outskirts of the city of Leicester. The parish includes the neighbourhood of St John's, which is east of the village separated from it by the M1 motorway. The 2 ...
.
History
Leicestershire Police was formed in 1839. In 1951 it amalgamated with Rutland Constabulary to form Leicestershire and Rutland Constabulary and in 1967 merged with
Leicester City Police The city of Leicester in England was policed independently until 1 April 1967 when its police force was merged with the Leicestershire and Rutland Constabulary to form the Leicester and Rutland Constabulary.
From about 1750 until September 1835 the ...
to form Leicester and Rutland Constabulary. After 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 ...
came into force in 1974 it was renamed Leicestershire Constabulary. In 2012 it changed to Leicestershire Police to be 'in keeping with modern policing'.
In 1965, Leicestershire and Rutland Constabulary had an establishment of 748 officers and an actual strength of 659.
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 ...
on 20 March 2006, would have seen the force merge with the other four
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
forces to form a strategic police force for the entire region. These plans were dropped in 2007.
In 2015, the force attempted to carry out a covert
CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
face recognition
A facial recognition system is a technology capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services, and wo ...
surveillance operation at the
Download Festival
Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...
, in which festival-goers would have their faces compared with a database of custody images, and only informed about the surveillance afterwards. The operation was inadvertently revealed in the magazine ''Police Oracle'' before the festival took place. The aim of the operation was to identify organised gangs of pickpockets deliberately targeting festivals across Europe.
Chief constables
the
chief constable is Rob Nixon.
The chief constables of Leicestershire have been:
* 1839–1876: Frederick Goodyer (first Chief Constable of Leicestershire)
* 1876–1889: Captain Roland Vincent Sylvester Grimston
[
* 1889–1928: Edward Holmes
* 1928–1949: Major Cecil Eagles Lynch-Blosse]
* 1950–1972: John A Taylor[
* 1972–1986: Alan Goodson
* 1986–1993: Michael John Hirst][
* 1993–1997: ]Keith Povey
Sir Keith Povey, QPM (born 30 April 1943) was Chief Inspector of Constabulary from 2002 until 2005.
Povey was educated at Abbeydale Grammar School and the University of Sheffield. Povey joined Sheffield City Police in 1962. His early service in ...
[
* 1997–2001: David Wyrko][
* 2001–2010: ]Matthew Baggott
Sir Matthew David Baggott, (born 1959) is a retired senior British police officer. He was Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland from 2009 to 2014.
Career
Baggott joined the Metropolitan Police in 1978. He moved to West Mi ...
* 2010–2022: Simon Cole
* 2022present: Rob Nixon
Officers killed in the line of duty
The Police Roll of Honour Trust
The Police Roll of Honour Trust is a charitable organisation registered in England & Wales and Scotland, it was founded in 2000 and records all those British police officers who have died on and in the line of duty. It has been granted a Royal Cha ...
and Police Memorial Trust
The Police Memorial Trust is a charitable organisation founded in 1984 and based in London. The trust's objective is to erect memorials to British police officers killed in the line of duty, at or near the spot where they died, thereby acting as ...
list and commemorate all British police officers killed in the line of duty. Since its establishment in 1984, the Police Memorial Trust has erected 50 memorials nationally to some of those officers.
The following officers of Leicestershire Police are listed by the Trust as having died attempting to prevent, stop or solve a crime:
* PCs Bryan Reginald Moore and Andrew Carl Munn, 2002 (fatally injured when their vehicle was rammed during a police pursuit
A car chase or vehicle pursuit is the vehicular overland chase of one party by another, involving at least one automobile or other wheeled motor vehicle in pursuit, commonly hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcement. The rise of the automotive i ...
)
*Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
Brian Dawson, 1975 (shot dead upon arrival at reports of a man firing into the street)
*PC William Adiel Wilkinson, 1903 (shot dead in ambush by men who bore police a grudge)
*PC Thomas George Barrett, 1886 (beaten to death by a man he spoke to about non-payment of a fine).
Local Policing Units
The local policing units for Leicestershire Police are as follows:
City:
*City Centre
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
– Mansfield House
*City South – Euston Street
*City East – Highfields, Keyham Lane
*City West – Beaumont Leys, Hinckley Road
County:
*North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock.
The dist ...
– Coalville
* Charnwood – Loughborough
* Melton & Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
– Melton Mowbray
*Hinckley
Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbor ...
& Blaby – Braunstone, Hinckley
*Harborough
Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire.
Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the ad ...
– Market Harborough
* Oadby and Wigston – Wigston
Uniform
* Black operational shirt for Constables and a blue operational shirt for PCSOs
* Epaulettes (black for Officers and blue for PCSOs) showing name and collar number
* Black operational combat trousers
* White operational shirt for senior officers and ceremonial use
* Custodian helmet
The custodian helmet is a type of helmet worn predominantly by male police officers in the United Kingdom, within England and Wales, and certain other places around the world.
History
The custodian helmet is the headgear traditionally worn by m ...
or bowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...
for constables and sergeants
* Peaked hat or bowler for PCSOs
* White peaked cap for officers attached to the Roads Policing Unit (RPU)
* Peaked caps or bowlers for senior officers
* Bump caps for all officers
* Reflective or black protective body armour vest
* Modular carriage system for body armour or tactical belt to carry equipment
PEEL inspection 2022
(HMICFRS) conducts a periodic police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection of each police service's performance. In its latest PEEL inspection, Leicestershire Police was rated as follows:
See also
*Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner
The Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Leicestershire Police in the English counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The post ...
*
*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 pol ...
References
External links
*
Leicestershire Police
at 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 ...
Day in the life of Chief Constable Simon Cole
from BBC Radio Leicester
BBC Radio Leicester is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland.
It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at ...
Leicestershire Constabulary Roll of Honour
{{Authority control
Police forces of England
Police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
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 ...
Government agencies established in 1839
1839 establishments in England