Newcastle upon Tyne City Police was the Home Office police force and a constabulary that served the city of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. It was formed in 1836 when Newcastle was one of Europe's biggest industrial cities. It was the first modern police force, formed three years before the

County Police Act The County Police Act 1839 (2 & 3 Vict c 93) (also known as the Rural Police Act or the Rural Constabularies Act) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Police Acts 1839 to 1893. The Act enabled Justices of the Pea ...

of 1839. The force had stations at Pilgrim Street in the City Centre, Arthur's Hill, Headlam Street, and Red Barnes, with section stations at Walker, Heaton, Kenton and Benwell village. The Pilgrim Street station was also a fire station. Each foot beat had a large

police box A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s. Unlike an ordinar ...

where officers could rest and 'ring-in' to their main station and the public had access to a phone for advice or to summon help. At its peak Newcastle City had almost 1,000 police officers with MGB sports cars in its motor patrol fleet as well as its own specially tailored uniforms. On 1 April 1969 it was amalgamated into the

Northumberland Constabulary Northumberland Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Northumberland, England, from 1969 until 1974. Northumberland County Constabulary absorbed Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Police in 1921 and Northumberland Constabulary ...

under the

Police Act 1964 The Police Act 1964 (1964 c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that updated the legislation governing police forces in England and Wales, constituted new police authorities, gave the Home Secretary new powers to supervise lo ...

."70 police forces to be axed in mergers". ''The Times''. 19 May 1966. Newcastle upon Tyne City Police lost its identity after the 1969 mergers when the new Northumberland Constabulary was formed. Based at Pilgrim Street police station (now closed and relocated at Forth Banks), the old Newcastle City police HQ, like many multifunctional police forces, also housed the Magistrates Courts and fire station. It was designed by Cackett, Burns, Dick and MacKellar and opened in 1934. The classical elements of

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s and Egyptian solidity is clearly present, and it is also noted for its mock Babylonian sculptures. It only ended its use as police headquarters after the establishment of

Northumbria Police Northumbria Police is a territorial police force in England. It is responsible for policing the metropolitan boroughs of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland, as well as the ceremonial county ...

after 1974 which moved to

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

, then

Ponteland Ponteland ( ) is a large village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The name means "island in the Pont", after the River Pont which flows from west to east and joins the River Blyth further downstream, be ...

sometime later. It also housed one of the two server storage systems for Northumbria Police that backs up and shares contingency information (disaster recovery) with its twin in Ponteland. This changed in 2011 when a new computer system became operational, and the disaster recovery system was moved to

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

References

{{reflist Defunct police forces of England History of Northumberland