The West Yorkshire Constabulary (WYC) was, from 1968 to 1974, the statutory police force for the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, in northern England. It was formed 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 ...

, and was a merger of the previous West Riding Constabulary along with six borough forces for the

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

s of

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, Halifax,

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

. The other four West Riding county boroughs,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, retained independent police forces (a merged force for Sheffield/Rotherham). The West Riding Constabulary had been originally set up in 1856, as required by the

County and Borough Police Act 1856 The County and Borough Police Act 1856 or the Police Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict c 69) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Police Acts 1839 to 1893.The Short Titles Act 1896, section 2(1) and Schedule 2 The Act made it ...

. The first Chief Constable was Lt Col C. A. Cobbe. The force's strength was 354 by the end of the year, and its headquarters were at

. In 1974 the force was split, 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 ...

. The bulk of the force went to form the new

West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers. History West Yor ...

(with Bradford and Leeds) and

South Yorkshire Police South Yorkshire Police (SYP) is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England. The force is led by Chief Constable Lauren Poultney. Oversight is conducted by Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings. T ...

(with Sheffield and Rotherham Constabulary the former Barnsley and Doncaster County Borough forces and the interlinked county areas), with other parts coming under the

North Yorkshire Police North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. As of September 2018 the force had a strength of 1,357 police officers, 127 ...

Cumbria Constabulary Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering Cumbria. As of September 2017, the force had 1,108 police officers, 535 police staff, 93 police community support officers, and 86 special constables. The force serves a p ...

Humberside Police Humberside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing The East Riding of Yorkshire including Hull and northern parts of Lincolnshire including Grimsby and Scunthorpe. The chief constable since 2017 is Lee Freeman. Histor ...

, and

Lancashire Police Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston. , the force has 3,088 police offic ...

forces. The sub-division of Saddleworth, part of the Huddersfield division of the West Yorkshire Constabulary, was taken into the new

Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...

Chief constables

;West Riding Constabulary (1856–1968) *1856–1869 : Lieutenant Colonel Charles Augustus Cobbe *1935–1943: George Campbell Vaughan was the first Chief Constable of the West Riding Constabulary who had risen up through the ranks, having joined at Rotherham in 1910 as a Constable. He took over as Chief Constable from Lt-Col Frank Brook who had been appointed one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary. Awarded the CBE in 1942 for ''excellence in police work'' Campbell Vaughan established the Detective Training School & Police College at Wakefield, a flagship institution for many years within UK policing. In 1943, he broke new ground by paying policewomen the same wages as their male counterparts. He was 53 when he retired, and Wilf Blacker (Deputy Chief Constable) held the post from November 1943 to May 1944 when Henry Studdy, a decorated World War One Indian Army Officer and career policeman took over. Sir Henry - as he later became - had previously served as Chief Constable of Northumberland, and then of Durham, after a police career in India, mainly as a detective. *1944–1959 : Sir Henry Studdy *1959–1969 : George Edward Scott ;West Yorkshire Constabulary (1968–1974) *1969–1974 : Ronald Gregory

References

*http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/section-item.asp?sid=10&iid=343 Defunct police forces of England West Riding of Yorkshire 1968 establishments in England 1975 disestablishments in England {{UK-law-enforcement-agency-stub