West Yorkshire 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

metropolitan county The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

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 ...

. It is the fourth largest

in England 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 ...

by number of officers.

History

West Yorkshire Police was formed in 1974, when part of the

West Yorkshire Constabulary The West Yorkshire Constabulary (WYC) was, from 1968 to 1974, the statutory police force for the West Riding of Yorkshire, in northern England. It was formed under the Police Act 1964, and was a merger of the previous West Riding Constabulary a ...

(itself created in 1968, and covering a much larger area) was amalgamated with the

Leeds City Police Leeds City Police was the police force responsible for policing the city of Leeds in northern England from its formation in 1836, until 1974, when it was amalgamated under the Local Government Act 1972 with the Bradford City Police and part of th ...

and

Bradford City Police The Bradford City Police (Previously the Bradford Borough Police before 1897) was the municipal police department of the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. History Bradford Borough Charter was granted in 1847, and Bradford Corporat ...

, 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 force was originally known as the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police. Some older signs around the Force area, such as the one in the reception of Millgarth Police Station in Leeds city centre, read 'West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police'. The 'Metropolitan' from the police title was dropped in 1986 when the

Metropolitan counties The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...

were abolished.West Yorkshire Police: Policing History
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 21 March 2006 would see the force merge with

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

to form a strategic police force for the entire region. This did not take place. On 12 December 2006, Sir Norman Bettison was announced as the new chief constable, replacing

Colin Cramphorn Colin Ralph Cramphorn Order of the British Empire, CBE, Queen's Police Medal, QPM, Deputy Lieutenant, DL, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, FRSA (1 April 1956 – 30 November 2006) was the Chief Constable o ...

and resigned from his post on 24 October 2012. He was replaced by Temporary Chief Constable John Parkinson until the appointment of Mark Gilmore as chief constable on 1 February 2013. In 2018, it was reckoned West Yorkshire Police would lose 400 officers from its 4,800 officers due to

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

Operational structure

For operational purposes West Yorkshire Police is divided into five geographic divisions known within the force as ‘policing districts’. The change in nomenclature reflects that of April 2014 the alignment with council boundaries for policing districts and the reduction of divisions in Leeds (which had three) and Bradford (which had two) so that each policing district was conterminous with its respective local authority boundaries. Each district is made up of Partnership Working Areas (PWA) which consist of an Inspector and three teams of sergeants, police constables, special constables and PCSOs. The first single police commander of the Bradford district, Chief Superintendent Simon Atkin, was appointed in October 2013 as part of ongoing moves to merge the district’s two policing divisions, while Chief Superintendent Angela Williams was appointed in Calderdale. The five existing divisions with their divisional identifiers are as follows: WYMP

The force headquarters is situated on Laburnum Road to the north of

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, ...

city centre along with the Learning and Development Centre and specialist operations facility at Carr Gate, Wakefield at Junction 41 of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

. The Sir Alec Jeffreys Building in the Calder Park Business Estate (at Junction 39 of the M1 motorway) houses the Yorkshire and The Humber Scientific Support Service and was opened in May 2012 by Sir

Alec Jeffreys Sir Alec John Jeffreys, (born 9 January 1950) is a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used worldwide in forensic science to assist police detective work and to resolv ...

himself. West Yorkshire Police is the 'lead force' for scientific support and provides such services for

and

Estate

The current estate of police stations and other buildings is changing with certain buildings closing and new buildings opening. , there are three PFI projects completed and as a result of these new buildings a number of police stations have closed and been sold.West Yorkshire Police (2013) ''PFI Building Projects ''(accessed 4 July 2013) Wakefield district police headquarters is now located on Havertop Lane, Normanton. The total area is and provides office accommodation as well as a 35-cell custody suite. As a result of its construction, police stations in Wood Street, Wakefield, Normanton, and Castleford were closed. The new headquarters for the newly formed Leeds district is operational on Elland Road, Beeston,

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 ...

. The total area is and provides office accommodation as well as a 40-cell custody suite. It replaced Millgarth, and Holbeck police stations in Leeds. The existing operational support facilities at Carr Gate, Wakefield were expanded and new buildings constructed which provide centralised specialist training for the force in one location. The new facility, which totals includes: *Training hub facility (reception, classrooms, three gyms, storage and offices etc.) *Public order training facility (storage areas, breakout areas, large briefing room, classroom, training arena, etc.) *Driver training facility *Firearms training facility and two firing ranges, armoury, etc. *Method of entry area approximately

Leadership

List of chief constables

;West Riding Constabulary * Major-General

Llewellyn William Atcherley Major-General Sir Llewellyn William Atcherley, (1 March 1871 – 17 February 1954) was a Canadian-born officer in the British Army and Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Constabulary. He was born in Elizabethtown, now Brockville, Ontario to L ...

(1908-1919) * Captain Henry Studdy (1944 to 1959) * George Edward Scott (1959 to 1969) ;West Yorkshire Constabulary (1968) * Ronald Gregory (1969 to 1983) ;West Yorkshire Police (1974) * Sir Colin Sampsom (1983 to 1988) * Peter Nobes (1988 to 1993) *

Keith Hellawell Keith Hellawell QPM (born 18 May 1942) is a British retired police officer, former UK Government drugs-czar, ex-chairman of Sports Direct plc. and current chairman of the Huddersfield Giants Rugby League club After starting his career as a co ...

(1993 to 1998) * Alan Charlesworth (1998 to 1999) * Graham Moore (1999 to 2002) *

(September 2002 to November 2006) * Sir Norman Bettison (January 2007 to October 2012) * Mark Gilmore (April 2013 to August 2016) *

Dee Collins Dionne Marie "Dee" Collins (born 1965) is a British retired police officer, who served as Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police from 2016 to 2019. She served a secondment from West Yorkshire Police to the College of Policing The College ...

(appointed November 2016) emporary chief constable between June 2014 and November 2016* John Robins (appointed June 2019)

Police and crime commissioner

From November 2012 until May 2021, the

West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner The Mayor of West Yorkshire is a directly elected mayor responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire in England. The Mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and assumes the office and powers of the West York ...

s was

Mark Burns-Williamson Mark Burns-Williamson, (born January 1964) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 to 2021. He was the chair of the West Yorkshire Police Authority from 2003 to 2012 He was a ...

. In 2021, his role was abolished when

Tracy Brabin Tracy Lynn Brabin (born 9 May 1961) is a British politician who has served as the first Mayor of West Yorkshire since the office was established on 10 May 2021. She previously was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Batley and Spen from 2016 to 20 ...

was elected

Mayor of West Yorkshire The Mayor of West Yorkshire is a directly elected mayor responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire in England. The Mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and assumes the office and powers of the West Yorks ...

and assumed responsibility for the force.

PEEL inspection

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services 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 ...

(HMICFRS) conducts a periodic police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection of each police service's performance. In its latest PEEL inspection, was rated as follows:

Notable cases

*The hunt for the

Yorkshire Ripper Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...

(1975 to 1981) *Chapeltown riots (

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

) *

Bradford riots The Bradford Riots were a brief period of violent rioting which began on 7 July 2001, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They occurred as a result of heightened tension between the large and growing British Asian communities and the city's ...

(2001) * Harehills riot (2001) *Hunt for murderer

David Bieber David Francis Bieber (born 3 February 1966), also known under the alias Nathan Wayne Coleman, is an American convicted murderer. A fugitive from the United States, he murdered police constable (PC) Ian Broadhurst and attempted to murder PCs Nei ...

(2003) *The disappearance of Shannon Mathews (2008) *The murder of Jo Cox, MP (2016) * Assault on Syrian refugees, Almondbury Community School (2018)

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. Since 1900, the following officers of West Yorkshire Police are listed by the Trust as having died during the course of their duties in attempting to prevent, stop or solve a criminal act: *PC Mark Goodlad, 2011, (Assisting motorist on M1 when a HGV struck him and his marked police vehicle) *PC Conal Daood Hills, 2006 (fatally injured when his vehicle crashed during a police pursuit) *PC

Sharon Beshenivsky Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

, 2005 (shot dead attending a robbery) *PC Ian Nigel Broadhurst, 2003 (shot dead by

) *PC David Sykes, July 1986, struck by a lorry whilst on the hard shoulder of the M62 near Brighouse *Sergeant John Richard Speed, 1984 (shot dead; posthumously awarded the

Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct The Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct, formerly the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, acknowledged brave acts by both civilians and members of the armed services in both war and peace, for gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. Est ...

) *Sergeant Michael Hawcroft, 1981 (stabbed; posthumously awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct) *Inspector Barry John Taylor, 1970 (shot dead; posthumously awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct)

Arms

References

External links

*
West Yorkshire 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 ...

* {{Authority control P Police forces of England Organizations established in 1974 1974 establishments in England Crime in West Yorkshire