The Port of Liverpool Police is a non- Home Office ports police force with responsibility for

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

, Ellesmere Port and Eastham Dock Estates and Freeports, as well as the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the ri ...

areas in the north-west of

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 ...

Mandate

The Port of Liverpool police is accountable to the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

. Its officers receive their long service and good conduct medals from the department.

Role, function and organisation

The Port of Liverpool Police is established under the Mersey Docks and Harbour (Police) Order 1975. This legislation sets out that constables of the force hold the full powers of the office of

constable 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 ...

within the port police area, which is defined as the port and any place within 1 mile of the limits of the port. The

Marine Navigation Act 2013 The Marine Navigation Act 2013 (introduced into Parliament as the ''Marine Navigation (No.2) Bill'') is an Act of Parliament that amends various existing legislation, in particular relating to pilotage and the powers of harbour authorities, po ...

provides a limited extension to this jurisdiction if a chief constable of a

police area A police area is the area for which a territorial police force in the United Kingdom is responsible for policing. Every location in the United Kingdom has a designated territorial police force with statutory responsibility for providing poli ...

consents. This allows port police officers to use police powers in relation port area policing matters anywhere in the police area where consent has been granted – it does not grant full police powers in relation to non-port policing matters. As of July 2014, Port of Liverpool Police were applying to the Chief Constable of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

for such consent within Merseyside police area. The force employs under 50 police officers, of whom five comprise the

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 ...

Vehicles

The force has a number of police vehicles for use and is very well equipped for modern day policing needs. These are generally pickup trucks or 4x4 vehicles, such as Toyotas and Nissans. They are marked with the blue-and-yellow battenburg markings, as well as POLP crest, blue lights and sirens.

Rank structure

The rank structure of the Port of Liverpool Police is smaller than that used in most UK police forces, as shown below. All officers have the ''powers of a constable'', regardless of rank. *Chief officer - The post is currently held by Martin Humphreys. *Inspector (deputy chief officer) - Stephen Christian. *Sergeant - various. *Constable - various.

Table of ranks

As with Home Office police forces, officers are required to sit and pass the same promotion examinations (Objective Structured Performance Related Examination (OSPRE) until recently; replaced by Sergeants' or Inspectors' NPPF Step 2 Exam, National Investigators' (NIE) Exam or IPLDP Police Legal Exam) to be considered for promotion to sergeant and inspector. Further promotion within the force falls down to selection, merit and budget allowance.

History

Port of Liverpool Police Vehicle 20 October, 2012

In its present form, the force has existed since 19 June 1975, when it was created by The Mersey Docks and Harbour (Police) Order 1975. The dock has had a dedicated police force throughout its history, though not always constantly: * From 1811- 37, the ''Liverpool Dock Police'' patrolled much the same area until its merger with the ''Liverpool Borough Police Force'' * In 1852, 40 officers were transferred to the Liverpool Fire Brigade for the purpose of policing the docks * In 1865 the ''River Mersey Police'' took responsibility for policing these areas until 1920, after which they were policed by territorial forces * In 1975, with the passing of the above statutory instrument, the current body was formed. It became fully operational in July 1976 The Manchester Ship Canal had a separate police force, the Manchester Ship Canal Police, from its founding in 1893 until 1993.

Jurisdiction

Port of Liverpool Police Princess Parade24 May 2013 006

The force has jurisdiction over the whole of the Port of Liverpool as defined by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Act 1971 and its amendments. It also polices the

. However Merseyside Police, as the territorial police force with statutory responsibility for policing the whole of Merseyside has concurrent jurisdiction in the port area. The Port of Liverpool Police has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Merseyside Police, which sets out how the two forces operate together and the use of certain resources, for example, Merseyside Police custody facilities. The port police responds to the report of all crimes and emergencies within the port area. However, as per the memorandum, Merseyside Police will take over the handling of the following matters whilst assisted by the Port of Liverpool Police: * Murder * Rape * Serious life-threatening assaults * Armed crime * Crime requiring significant or specialist resources to investigate * Fatal traffic collisions * Large scale disorder * Terrorism and subversion * Extradition matters

References

External links

* Note link opens Peel Ports - then search for Police.
Images of the Port of Liverpool Police on Flickr
{{UK private and military police forces Liverpool Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Police forces of England Port of Liverpool Port police forces of the United Kingdom