Thames Valley 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 the
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...
, covering the counties of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
and
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
.
It the largest non-metropolitan police force 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 ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, covering and a population of 2.42 million people.
History
Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 there were ancient ways of keeping law and order through Parish constables or quasi police bodies who conducted a wide range of duties. Modern policing in Thames Valley can be traced back to the 1835 act when a number of boroughs set up police forces. For example
Newbury Borough Police
Newbury Borough Police, formed as a result of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, operated in the Borough of Newbury, county of Berkshire, England until 1875, when the force was voluntarily amalgamated into Berkshire Constabulary. Today, the ar ...
were operating as a small police force soon after the passing of the Act. The force was one of around twenty borough forces that were later amalgamated with their county police force. These were
Buckinghamshire Constabulary
Buckinghamshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Buckinghamshire, England, until 1968.
Buckinghamshire Constabulary was established 6 February 1857. At establishment it had a strength of 102 officers. In 1868, p ...
,
Oxfordshire Constabulary
Oxfordshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Oxfordshire, England, excluding the city of Oxford itself, from 1857 until 1968.
History
Oxfordshire Constabulary was established in 1857. It absorbed Chipping Norton Bo ...
,
Berkshire Constabulary
Berkshire Constabulary is a former Home Office police force which was responsible for policing the county of Berkshire in Southern England. Berkshire Constabulary was merged with four other adjacent police forces in 1968 to form the Thames Valley ...
,
Reading Borough Police
Reading Borough Police was a police force for the borough of Reading in the United Kingdom. The force was created on 21 February 1836, at which time it had a strength of 30 constables, two sergeants and two inspectors. Towards the end of the 19th ...
and
Oxford City Police
Oxford City Police was the police force of the City of Oxford, England. It policed the city from 1 January 1869 until 31 March 1968.
It was established to succeed a "watch and ward" force that had been founded in 1835. On 1 April 1968 it and fou ...
founded in 1857, 1857, 1856, 1836 and 1868 respectively. 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 ...
these five forces were amalgamated on 1 April 1968 to form the Thames Valley Constabulary.
Thames Valley Police has changed its name only once in its own history in 1971, from Thames Valley Constabulary to Thames Valley Police, a common change in most police forces that makes them more accessible.
Thames Valley Police's motto in Latin is ''Sit pax in valle tamesis'' meaning 'Let there be Peace in the Thames Valley', their slogan is 'Reducing crime, disorder and fear'. The Thames Valley Police shield is made up of features from the shields of its five founding constabularies including a blue river depicting the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
river and five crowns palisado depicting the five founding forces. The stag is a symbol of the county of Berkshire, the ox a symbol of the county of Oxfordshire and the swan a symbol of the county of Buckinghamshire. Together they represent the ceremonial counties of the force area.
Chief Constables
* Thomas Hodgson (19681970)
* David Holdsworth (19701978)
*
Peter Imbert
Peter Michael Imbert, Baron Imbert, (27 April 1933 – 13 November 2017) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service from 1987 to 1993, and prior to that appointment Chief Constable of Thames Va ...
(19791985)
* Colin Smith (19851991)
* Charles Pollard (19912002)
*
Peter Neyroud
Peter William Neyroud CBE QPM (born 12 August 1959) is a retired British police officer. He was the Chief Executive Officer for the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), and former Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police. Hannounced his ...
(20022007)
*
Sara Thornton (20072015)
*
Francis Habgood
Sir Francis John Stapylton Habgood (born 19 November 1964) is a retired senior British police officer. He was the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police. He was appointed in April 2015. He is also a visiting fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford ...
(20152019)
*
John Campbell (2019present)
Governance
Thames Valley Police is overseen by a locally elected
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner
The Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is a police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Thames Valley Police in the ceremonial English counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshi ...
. The incumbent commissioner is
Matthew Barber
Matthew Barber (born January 10, 1977) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. His music has been classified as indie pop and pop rock with folk and alternative country influences.
Barber was born and grew up in Port Credit, which is part of Missis ...
, a
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
candidate elected in May 2021. The
police and crime commissioner is scrutinised by the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel.
Thames Valley was previously overseen by a
police authority
A police authority in the United Kingdom is a public authority that is responsible for overseeing the operations of a police force. The nature and composition of police authorities has varied over time, and there are now just four dedicated "police ...
consisting of 19 members, made up of councillors, members from unitary authorities, independents and a magistrate.
Organisation
In April 2011 the force adopted a local policing model and was split into twelve local policing areas (LPAs), each led by a
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
or
Chief Superintendent
Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model.
Rank insignia of chief superintendent
File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police
File:RCMP Chief Su ...
. These consist of one or two local authority areas. The LPAs in turn are split into a number of "neighbourhoods" based on wards and parishes.
Local Policing Areas
*
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
*
Aylesbury Vale
The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum ( Hertfor ...
*
Cherwell and
West Oxfordshire
West Oxfordshire is a local government district in northwest Oxfordshire, England, including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, Carterton and Witney, where the council is based.
Area
The area is mainly rural downland ...
*
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
*
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a planned move to Didcot, the district's largest town. The a ...
and
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway N ...
*
South Buckinghamshire
South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Bea ...
*
Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
*
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
and
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...
*
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...
and
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...
*
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
*
West Berkshire
West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council.
History
The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Distric ...
Each area is responsible for delivering response policing, neighbourhood policing teams, and a local priority crime and
Criminal Investigation Department
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...
(CID). Other functions that used to be held at a local level are now delivered at force headquarters level using a shared service approach, with resources deployed as required around the force area.
Force Headquarters Teams
A number of teams are run from force headquarters and their staff are deployed at various locations around the area:
*
Major Investigation Team
*
Control and Communications
*
Police Dog Section
*
Counter Terrorism Unit
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...
*
Intelligence Agency
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objective ...
Operations
Neighbourhood Policing Team (NHPT)
Thames Valley Police has a local policing team working from every police station. These teams consist of officers, community support, special constables and police staff who work to patrol and attend local incidents. They use marked vans which read neighbourhood policing on the side rear panel under the Thames Valley Police corporate logo. The neighbourhood police vans double up as prisoner transport vans. However, most LPA police vehicles are available to this unit.
Incident Crime & Response (ICR)
LPA Response units work out of most major stations in the force area and are tasked with patrolling and responding to 999 calls. These officers are often issued with the
TASER X2
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon (company), Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed d ...
. ICR officers may be tasked to patrol high crime areas for an increased police presence or to conduct follow up investigations. Officers use the
Vauxhall Astra Estate,
Mitsubishi L200
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
,
Peugeot 308 SW and
Vauxhall Vivaro Opel Vivaro, a light commercial vehicle, which is also sold in the United Kingdom as the Vauxhall Vivaro, may refer to:
* The Opel Vivaro A, based on the second-generation Renault Trafic, and was produced between 2001 and 2014
* The Opel Vivaro B, ...
to conduct their patrols.
Dog Section
Thames Valley Police have approximately 52 operational
police dogs. The dogs are mostly donated from the RSPCA or public, and are trained at the force headquarters. They usually serve until they are 8 years old, receiving refresher training every year, and then living with their handler after retirement. They are part of the Joint Operations Unit with Hampshire Police. The dog section operates with marked and unmarked Mitsubishi Outlanders as well as Ford Mondeo estates.
Roads Policing Unit
Thames Valley Police patrols of
motorways
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
, the most of any police force in the UK.
This includes the M1, M4, M40, A329(M), A404(M) and M25, as well as many other 'A' route roads including the A43.
These units are based at 6 geographical traffic bases (Milton Keynes, Taplow, Three Mile Cross (Reading), Bicester, Amersham and Abingdon. Roads Policing in Thames Valley is part of the Joint Operations Unit which works together with Hampshire Constabulary's Roads Policing Unit.
Armed Response Unit
Thames Valley Police's Armed Response Unit is a 24/7 unit that responds to major and serious crimes where firearms may be involved. This unit is shared with
Hampshire Police
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.Hampshire Constabulary, 2012 Retrieved 27 April 2012
The force area inc ...
as part of the Joint Operations Unit.
The training facility is at Sulhamstead with a state of the art firearms range. The unit mostly uses the traffic bases within the force
Pro-Active Team
This team featured in the TV show ''Road Wars''.
Currently Thames Valley Police has centralised all of its ProActive teams to be run as a shared service from its headquarters. This unit is part of the roads policing unit and mainly uses unmarked cars across the force area. Instead of just responding to incidents the unit uses a proactive approach the majority of time, by trying to prevent crime before it takes place and actively looking for criminals and catching them in the act as well as patrolling areas based on intelligence.
The team works in a number of areas including Forced Method of Entry, Targeted intelligence policing and specialist surveillance of criminals both covertly and overtly.
Air Operations Unit
The Air Support Unit was officially created in 1982, but the use of helicopters in Thames Valley goes back to 1963, when Oxford City Police experimented with a Brantley helicopter with a dog basket attached to the skids. Thames Valley Police rented helicopters for use on special occasions in the 1970s and '80s. The unit was founded in 1982 when part-time daylight flights were routinely contracted and eight
Sergeants
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 ...
were transferred from Traffic and Operations to ASU. In 1986, the unit was moved to RAF Abingdon.
In 1988, the department became a full-time operational unit, only the third in the country at the time and a sergeant and two police constables were seconded to the unit as observers. Throughout this time the helicopters and pilots were chartered from commercial companies.
In 1996, Thames Valley Police,
Bedfordshire Police and
Hertfordshire Constabulary
Hertfordshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Hertfordshire in England. Its headquarters is in Welwyn Garden City. The current chief constable is Charlie Hall. As of March 2019, the force consi ...
amalgamated air support resources and founded the
Chiltern Air Support Unit
The Chiltern Air Support Unit (CASU) was a police helicopter unit that operated under a consortium agreement between Bedfordshire Police, Thames Valley Police and Hertfordshire Police until 1 October 2012, when it merged into the National Pol ...
, having received funding in 1995 to buy a second helicopter. The alliance is recognised to have started unofficially in 1992, when Thames Valley would sell flying time to its nearby forces. Helicopters were based at
RAF Henlow
RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment ...
and
RAF Benson
Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located at Benson, near Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front-line station and home to the RAF's fleet of Westland Puma HC2 support helicopters, us ...
, providing support 24/7, with night-time cover from at least one base.
Since 2012, the management of police air-support nationally has moved to the
National Police Air Service
The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police aviation service that provides centralised air support to the 43
territorial police forces in England and Wales, as well as the three special police forces serving that area. It replaced the pr ...
(NPAS). G-TVHB continues to be based at RAF Benson, whilst the Henlow based was closed and helicopter relocated elsewhere by NPAS.
Search and Recovery Unit
Founded in 1956 as the Underwater Search Unit of
Berkshire Constabulary
Berkshire Constabulary is a former Home Office police force which was responsible for policing the county of Berkshire in Southern England. Berkshire Constabulary was merged with four other adjacent police forces in 1968 to form the Thames Valley ...
and transferred to Thames Valley Police under a new name, the unit today is made up of one
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 ...
and seven
constables
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
and respond to around 350 operations each year.
The unit are involved in a variety of searching operations in river, underwater, underground, and cliff face conditions, searching for bodies, explosives, drugs, property, contraband and firearms and environments that can be affected by Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear radiation.
Marine Unit
The Marine Support Unit is shared between Thames Valley and
Hampshire Constabulary
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.Hampshire Constabulary, 2012 Retrieved 27 April 2012
The force area inc ...
, as part of the Joint Operations Unit. It carries out regular patrols of the Thames Valley and Hampshire's waterways, as well as covering special events including
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...
and
Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
.
Mounted Section
The Thames Valley Mounted Branch based at
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
Police Station. The unit has nine
police horse
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in th ...
s.
The unit is responsible for preventing equine crime, assisting in searches of rural areas, and mainly maintaining public order at demonstrations and sporting events, including the four football grounds in Thames Valley.
Protection Group
Thames Valley Police has the largest non-
Metropolitan Police Service
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 ...
operated Protection Group. This highly specialist department are responsible for guarding multiple fixed locations and protecting any visiting parties that require special attention. The officers on this department are some of the most highly trained and skilled within the force. They also supply an Armed Support Vehicle to support the static sites and deal with intense spontaneous incidents. The officers in the unit are required to pass stringent testing, they are Authorised Firearms Officers and also trained in advanced driving, advanced first aid, method of entry amongst many other highly specialist skills.
Public Order Department
Based in Heyford Park, formerly RAF Upper Heyford, in Oxfordshire. The POD is responsible for providing tactical support during spontaneous or pre-planned events that may result in public disorder. This includes sporting events such as football matches and
Royal Ascot
Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...
, music festivals such as
Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
, and lawful demonstrations.
Counter Terrorism Unit
Thames Valley Police's Counter Terrorist Unit is responsible for responding to any search related or explosive or terrorist incident, working with Protection Group to guard anyone deemed to be at risk and with dog section to locate the explosive. The unit has four explosive ordnance disposal advisors.
Locations
The headquarters of Thames Valley Police is at Oxford Road,
Kidlington
Kidlington is a major village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village despite its size. The 20 ...
, Oxfordshire. Thames Valley Police has 48
police station
A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...
s, with 16 front counters open to the public.
The force is covered by two control rooms, one in
Abingdon, and one in
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
.
The three police contact centres were formed in 2003, following the closure of local control rooms, to support the newly formed control rooms in Abingdon and Milton Keynes. They are located at the force headquarters in Kidlington, and separate teams within the Abingdon and Milton Keynes control rooms. The contact centres handle all emergency, non-emergency and enquiry calls from the public.
Sulhamstead House in
Sulhamstead
Sulhamstead is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It occupies an approximate rectangle of land south of the (Old) Bath, Somerset, Bath Road (A4 road (Great Britain), A4) between Reading, Berkshire, ...
, outside Reading, is the Thames Valley Police training college. It also houses
Thames Valley Police Museum.
There are also several
roads policing
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
bases at strategic locations around the force at Abingdon, Bicester, Taplow, Amersham, Milton Keynes, and Three Mile Cross. Many of these also feature armouries for the Armed Response Unit.
Presentation
Headgear
Male officers typically can wear the a flat cap or traditional
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 ...
, while females are issued the
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 ...
. The custodian helmet was dropped for practicality and cost reasons in 2009, but was reintroduced in 2018 yet is only typically seen by officers conducting foot patrols.
Traffic officers wear either a white flat cap or bowler hat.
In 2009 Thames Valley Police proposed to be the first force to introduce the use of baseball caps as a primary mode of headgear. After trials were conducted the proposal was dropped as being 'a step too far from the professional image of the force'.
Other units tend to wear police baseball caps, with other specialist headgear worn accordingly.
Uniform
Officers wear a short or long sleeve black wicking top with 'Police' on the sleeves under their body armour, and black uniform trousers with a cargo pockets. Soft-shell and high-visability jackets are also issued to all officers and can be worn accordingly.
Epaulette
Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of military rank, rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''sh ...
s feature the
rank
Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as:
Level or position in a hierarchical organization
* Academic rank
* Diplomatic rank
* Hierarchy
* ...
and
shoulder number of an officer. Officers the rank of Inspector or above may wear white shirts, with the force badge worn on the left of their chest.
Formal dress comprises an open-necked tunic, with a white shirt/blouse and tie for both male and female officers. All officers wear peaked caps and their rank on their epaulettes. The No.1 uniform is accompanied by black boots or shoes and occasionally gloves.
The operational uniform, until 2009, consisted of traditional white shirt and tie. This was dropped when it was deemed to be impractical and outdated – not withstanding the retention of this uniform by other forces, and the almost universal retention of the helmet.
However, starting with the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, TVP has started issuing the Custodian helmet again.
Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) wear a similar uniform to police officers on patrol, but consisting of a blue wicking top and single blue band on flat caps. Other staff may wear wicking tops or white shirts, depending on role.
Equipment
Police officers
*
TETRA
Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA; formerly known as Trans-European Trunked Radio), a European standard for a trunked radio system, is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification. TETRA was specifically designed for use by ...
digital radios, encrypted on the
Airwave network
* Autolock 22"
baton
*
PAVA spray
PAVA spray is an incapacitant spray similar to pepper spray. It is dispensed from a handheld canister, in a liquid stream. It contains a 0.3% solution of pelargonic acid vanillylamide (PAVA), also called nonivamide, a synthetic capsaicinoid (anal ...
* TCH
rigid handcuffs
* Leg restraints
* A basic
first aid kit
A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...
and
resuscitation
Resuscitation is the process of correcting physiological disorders (such as lack of breathing or heartbeat) in an acutely ill patient. It is an important part of intensive care medicine, anesthesiology, trauma surgery and emergency medicine. W ...
mask
PCSOs only carry a radio and paperwork required for their role. All officers and PCSOs are equipped with body-mounted cameras.
Police vehicles contain a variety of equipment, which can include
Arnold batons, shields,
traffic cone
Traffic cones, also called pylons, witches' hats, road cones, highway cones, safety cones, channelizing devices, construction cones, or just cones, are usually cone-shaped markers that are placed on roads or footpaths to temporarily redirect tra ...
s, road signs,
breathalyser
A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser'') is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC), or to detect viruses or diseases from a breath sample.
The name is a genericized trademark of the Br ...
s,
stingers, speed guns,
ANPR cameras and more.
Livery
Marked vehicles use the modern yellow and blue retro-reflective
battenberg markings
Battenburg markings or Battenberg markings are a pattern of high-visibility markings developed in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and currently seen on many types of emergency service vehicles in the UK, Crown dependencies, British Overseas Ter ...
on operational vehicles, as well as the Thames Valley Police shield and website link. Some semi-marked cars are used by Neighbourhood Policing Teams, which only have plain Thames Valley Police markings on the back and sides.
Thames Valley Police stopped using the '
jam sandwich' police car markings between 2000 and 2005 when
battenburg markings
Battenburg markings or Battenberg markings are a pattern of high-visibility markings developed in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and currently seen on many types of emergency service vehicles in the UK, Crown dependencies, British Overseas T ...
were adopted and implemented.
Strength and recruitment
Thames Valley Police employs 7,900 people and 908 volunteers. Of which 4,250 are warranted
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, over 500 are
police community support officers (PCSO) and 3,150 are civilian staff. Of the 908 volunteers, 500 are
police support volunteers (PSV) and 280 are warranted
special constables.
Training for new recruits in Thames Valley is held at Sulhamstead House in
Sulhamstead
Sulhamstead is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It occupies an approximate rectangle of land south of the (Old) Bath, Somerset, Bath Road (A4 road (Great Britain), A4) between Reading, Berkshire, ...
. Officers attend a residential training course, and are then deployed for continued tutoring from their base station. Officers will achieve fit for independent patrol status once on area, usually four to five months after completing initial training. PCSOs receive 18 weeks of training at Sulhamstead. Special constables see between six and seven months of training at weekends, with mandatory online training in between. Special constables will achieve fit for independent patrol status, usually within one year, but this is dependent on the number of tours of duty.
Recruits usually receive their
uniform
A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...
in the first week of training.
Warrant cards are issued at
attestation, where new officers swear their oath at the start of the second day of training.
Once the training period is over, the new officers are posted in a local division for a tutorship and attachment phase lasting around 16 weeks.
Future of Thames Valley Police
In a report published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in July 2011, the impact on the number of police officers and staff partly due to the reduction to Thames Valley Police's budget following the comprehensive spending review is as follows:
March 2010 figures exclude 166 officers and 145 staff who were paid through the Thames Valley payroll system but were seconded to national and regional duties and were externally funded.
Performance
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
A report from March 2010 by
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
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 ...
marked Thames Valley Police as 'fair' on local crime and policing, 'fair' on protection from serious harm and 'fair' on confidence and satisfaction.
In detail, Thames Valley was awarded only one 'excellent' for reducing road death and injury. They were 'fair' in all other categories except 'solving crime' and 'comparative satisfaction of BME community' and 'low/medium' for 'number of police officers and PCSOs'. They were praised for their 14% reduction in burglary after 'Operation Breaker' in July 2009.
Independent Police Complaints Commission
In the year 2008/9 the number of complaints recorded decreased by 2% but an increase of 8% above the previous years national average. The number of allegations recorded increased by 23% and 11% above the previous years national average.
Thames Valley Police received 947 complaints and 1903 allegations, the national average being 338 per 1000 officers, TVP has 372, and TVP is just above 369 per 1000 officers, the average from a group of similar forces.
Of allegations 23% were 'failure or neglect in duty', 19% were 'incivility, impoliteness and intolerance', 14% 'assault', 4% were 'discrimination' and 1% were 'breach of PACE Code A'.
And of the 1903 allegations, 51% were investigated, 36% were locally resolved, 6% were withdrawn, 7% were dispensed and 0% were discontinued. Of the 51% allegations investigated 13% were substantiated and 87% were unsubstantiated.
Thames Valley Police investigates the greatest amount of allegations compared to its peer forces, its investigation rate is 15% higher than the national average. Its use of 'local resolution' has dropped 12% since 2005/6. Thames Valley has fewer allegations that are withdrawn, dispensed or discontinued.
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, Thames Valley Police was rated as follows:
Controversy
Firearms training incident
On 30 May 2007 at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington whilst teaching a half-day course on firearms, PC David Micklethwaite demonstrated a
Magnum .44 revolver which he had mistakenly loaded with live rounds. He pointed the gun at Keith Tilbury, a police phone operator attending the course, and fired the gun, almost killing Tilbury.
The firearms instructor was reported to have failed the qualification at a
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 ...
training course, but TVP decided he would pass their less stringent test and was therefore suitable to teach the lesson, despite not having been provided with additional training since failing the Metropolitan Police course. The instructor was told to cover the lesson at short notice and accidentally picked up a live round from the force's armoury instead of dummy rounds. This mistake occurred due to both live and dummy rounds both being kept in the same
Quality Street tin.
Keith Tilbury underwent immediate surgery to his bowel, kidney, lung and liver. In court, it was said he was unlikely to work again.
Thames Valley Police pleaded guilty to breaching regulations; they were fined £40,000 and £25,000 for legal costs. Constable Micklethwaite initially denied any wrongdoing, but later admitted to breaching the
Health and Safety at Work Act
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974c 37 (abbreviated to "HSWA 1974", "HASWA" or "HASAWA") is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enfor ...
. PC Micklethwaite was not charged with misconduct because he retired from the Thames Valley Police before misconduct proceedings could be completed.
Underage PCSOs
In 2007 Thames Valley Police admitted to being one of five UK forces that had employed
Police Community Support Officers that were aged 16. This is not illegal as the minimum age limit of 18 applies to
Constables
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
, not PCSOs. However, concerns were raised that this represented "policing on the cheap" as candidates aged under 18 have a different wage scale and could cost £10,000 less per annum. It was also feared that the officers were being placed in unreasonable danger as PCSOs and police have been attacked and stabbed in the past.
Budget cuts
Proposed merger
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 see the force stay as a single strategic police force for the area, a merger with
Hampshire Constabulary
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.Hampshire Constabulary, 2012 Retrieved 27 April 2012
The force area inc ...
having been rejected.
Budget deficit
In 2010, it was reported that Thames Valley Police had to make savings of £52million over the next four years. Chief Constable Thornton said that they would have to 'cut back on all non-essential activity'. £347million of savings were identified including back office cuts and efficiency measures, as well as cutting officers numbers by 10%, meaning 800 officers.
In the media
The fictional ''
Inspector Morse
Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...
'', the main character in 13 novels by
Colin Dexter
Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, ''Inspector Morse'', fr ...
and 33 television episodes by
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
, works for Thames Valley Police, but in the spin-off series, ''
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
'', the force is referred to as Oxfordshire Police. The prequel spin-off ''
Endeavour'' covers Morse's early years in Oxford City Police and takes its merger into Thames Valley Police as a continuing theme.
In 1982 the BBC broadcast a nine-part series by
Roger Graef
Roger Arthur Graef OBE (18 April 1936 – 2 March 2022) was an American-born British documentary filmmaker and theatre director. Born in New York City, he moved to Britain in 1962, where he began a career producing documentary films investiga ...
and Charles Stewart entitled ''
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 ...
'', which showed a
fly-on-the-wall
Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, ...
account of Thames Valley's E Division based in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
. This featured the rather demeaning treatment of a female victim of rape which was much discussed in the media at the time.
In 1987, Thames Valley police were in the news because they stopped a gunman from killing more people; this came to be known as the
Hungerford massacre
The Hungerford massacre was a spree shooting in Hungerford, England, United Kingdom, on 19 August 1987, when 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot dead sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother, before shooting himself. The ...
.
Between 2003 and 2008 a
Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
programme, ''
Road Wars'', followed the Roads Policing Proactive and Problem Solving Team while they carried out their duties. The series followed a select group of officers on duty, who as a result became too well known causing the Chief Constable to ask Sky to move their programme to another force.
More recently, Thames Valley Police has featured in
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's ''
Catching a Killer'', which follows Major Crime Team officers as they investigate murders.
Following the killing of
Andrew Harper in service in 2019, ''The Killing of PC Harper: A Widow's Fight for Justice'' aired in 2022.
Other activities
IT resource merger
Thames Valley Police and
Hampshire Police
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.Hampshire Constabulary, 2012 Retrieved 27 April 2012
The force area inc ...
authorities have agreed to share ICT support and infrastructure, with all IT workers now employees of Thames Valley Police. This will also include the Isle of Wight, a division of Hampshire Police. The partnership in Information Technology is the first of its kind in the country.
Chiltern Transport Consortium
Thames Valley Police is the lead force in the Chiltern Transport Consortium (CTC), providing the fleet and maintenance for 6 different police forces. Members include 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 ...
,
Civil Nuclear Constabulary
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) (Welsh: ''Heddlu Sifil Niwclear'') is a special police force responsible for providing law enforcement and security at any relevant nuclear site and for security of nuclear materials in transit within the Unit ...
,
Bedfordshire Police,
Hertfordshire Police and
Cambridgeshire Police
Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the local territorial police force that covers the county of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough unitary authority. It provides law enforcement and security for an area of and population of 856,000 people, in a pred ...
.
Thames Valley Police Museum
The Thames Valley Police Museum is located within Sulhamstead House, known locally as the 'White House', at
Sulhamstead
Sulhamstead is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It occupies an approximate rectangle of land south of the (Old) Bath, Somerset, Bath Road (A4 road (Great Britain), A4) between Reading, Berkshire, ...
in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. The site was formerly the headquarters of the
Berkshire Constabulary
Berkshire Constabulary is a former Home Office police force which was responsible for policing the county of Berkshire in Southern England. Berkshire Constabulary was merged with four other adjacent police forces in 1968 to form the Thames Valley ...
, and is now the training centre for the Thames Valley Police. The museum is open by appointment.
The museum includes displays on the history of Thames Valley Police and the five police forces that were amalgamated to form the force in 1968; the
Buckinghamshire Constabulary
Buckinghamshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Buckinghamshire, England, until 1968.
Buckinghamshire Constabulary was established 6 February 1857. At establishment it had a strength of 102 officers. In 1868, p ...
, the Berkshire Constabulary,
Oxford City Police
Oxford City Police was the police force of the City of Oxford, England. It policed the city from 1 January 1869 until 31 March 1968.
It was established to succeed a "watch and ward" force that had been founded in 1835. On 1 April 1968 it and fou ...
, the
Oxfordshire Constabulary
Oxfordshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Oxfordshire, England, excluding the city of Oxford itself, from 1857 until 1968.
History
Oxfordshire Constabulary was established in 1857. It absorbed Chipping Norton Bo ...
and the
Reading Borough Police
Reading Borough Police was a police force for the borough of Reading in the United Kingdom. The force was created on 21 February 1836, at which time it had a strength of 30 constables, two sergeants and two inspectors. Towards the end of the 19th ...
. The museum's collections include items from the
Great Train Robbery of 1963
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.6million from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshi ...
, uniforms, equipment, medals, photographs, scenes of crime evidence, and occurrence and charge books.
In 2006, the exhibition space of the museum was renovated. Since September 2017, the museum has been temporarily closed prior to relocation.
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 Thames Valley Police are listed by the Police Roll of Honour Trust as having died attempting to prevent, stop or solve a crime, since the beginning of the 20th century:
* Inspector Francis John East, 1944 (fatally injured when pushed off a vehicle by a suspect)
* PC William John Payne, 1949 (collapsed and died after pursuing a burglar)
* DC Brian Moss, 1953 (fell through a roof while searching for suspects)
* Inspector James Roy Bradley, 1967 (run over by a suspect car at a roadblock)
* DC Ian Coward, 1971 (shot nine times attempting to arrest an armed suspect; posthumously awarded the
Queen's Police Medal
The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...
)
* WPC Joanne Mary Cochran, 1984 (fatally injured when her vehicle crashed 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 ...
)
* PC
Roger Brereton
Roger Brereton was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1604 to 1611
Brereton the third son of Owen Brereton of Borras near Gresford, Denbighshire.
He sat on the bench as Justice of the Peace for Flintshire from 1582 to 161 ...
, 1987 (shot in the
Hungerford massacre
The Hungerford massacre was a spree shooting in Hungerford, England, United Kingdom, on 19 August 1987, when 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot dead sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother, before shooting himself. The ...
)
* PC Gareth Browning, 2017 (run over by a suspect car in 2013, later died in hospital)
* PC
James Dixon
James Dixon (August 5, 1814 – March 27, 1873) was a United States representative and United States Senator, Senator from Connecticut.
Biography
Dixon, son of William & Mary (Field) Dixon, was born August 5, 1814 in Enfield, Connecticut, ...
, 2017 (fatally injured in a road traffic collision whilst on a training exercise)
* PC
Andrew Harper, 2019 (fatally injured whilst at the scene of a reported burglary)
Arms
See also
*
Chiltern Air Support Unit
The Chiltern Air Support Unit (CASU) was a police helicopter unit that operated under a consortium agreement between Bedfordshire Police, Thames Valley Police and Hertfordshire Police until 1 October 2012, when it merged into the National Pol ...
*
Policing 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 ...
*
List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
There are a number of agencies that participate in law enforcement in the United Kingdom which can be grouped into three general types:
* Territorial police forces, who carry out the majority of policing. These are police forces that cover a ...
*
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...
References
External links
*
Thames Valley 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 ...
Sulhamstead HouseHome Office circular 68-1968 announcing the force's creation
Thames Valley Police website information on the museumInformationfrom
Culture24
Royal Berkshire History: Sulhamstead House
{{authority control
Organizations established in 1968
Organisations based in Berkshire
Organisations based in Buckinghamshire
Organisations based in Oxfordshire
Police forces of England
Milton Keynes
1968 establishments in England