Durham Constabulary 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 ceremonial county of County Durham in North East England. The force’s area is bordered by

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 ...

to the west,

Cleveland Police Cleveland Police is the territorial police force responsible for the policing area corresponding to the former county of Cleveland in Northern England. As of September 2017, the force had 1,274 police officers, 278 police staff, 124 police com ...

to the south east,

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 ...

to the south and

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 c ...

to the north. , the force has 1,168

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, 129 special constables, and 131 police community support officers (PCSO).

History

Durham Constabulary was one of the first county police forces to be set up, established in 1839. The force absorbed Durham City Police (formed in 1836) in 1921, Hartlepool Borough Police (formed in 1851) in 1947, Sunderland Borough Police (formed in 1837) in 1967, and Gateshead Borough Police (formed in 1836) and South Shields Borough Police (formed in 1839) in 1968, when it also lost some of its area to Teesside Constabulary. In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,763 and an actual strength of 1,626. As a result of the Local Government Act 1972, the northern area of the force including Gateshead, Sunderland and South Shields became part of the

area, whilst Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees in the south-east became the jurisdiction of Cleveland Constabulary in 1974.

Chief constables

* 1848–1892: Colonel George Francis White * 1892–1902: John Henry Eden * 1902–1922: William George Morant * 1922–1942: Sir

George Morley George Morley, 27 February 1598 to 29 October 1684, was a senior member of the Church of England from London, who served as Bishop of Worcester from 1660 to 1662, and of Winchester from 1662 to 1684. Early life Morley was born in London, Eng ...

(knighted in 1937 Coronation Honours) * 1943–1944: Captain H. Studdy * 1944–1950: Colonel Sir

Eric St Johnston Sir Thomas Eric St Johnston, CBE, KStJ, QPM, TD (7 January 1911 – 17 March 1986) was Chief Inspector of Constabulary from 1967 until 1970. St Johnson was educated at Bromsgrove School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was a f ...

(afterwards

Chief Constable of Lancashire 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 ...

, 1950–67) * 1950–1970: Alec A. Muir * 1970–1976: Arthur George "Peter" Puckering * 1981–1988: Eldred James Boothby * 1988–1997: Frank Taylor * 1997–2002: George Hedges * 2002–2005: Paul T. Garvin * 2005–2012: Jon Stoddart * 2012–2019: Michael Barton * 2019–present: Jo Farrell

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 1960, the following officers of Durham Constabulary were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress: *PC Keith Maddison, 1997 (collapsed and died while pursuing suspects from a stolen vehicle) *DC James Brian Porter, 1982 (shot dead by two armed robbers, 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 ...

) *PC Glenn Russel Corder, 1980 (his 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 William Ralph Shiell, 1940 (shot dead by

burglars Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...

) *PC Matthew Walls Straughan, 1927 (shot dead by a suspect)

Operations

Durham Constabulary is managed by Chief Constable Jo Farrell and her executive team, composed of Deputy Chief Constable Dave Orford, Temporary Assistant Chief Constable John Ward, Assistant Chief Officer Gary Ridley. The force operates through a number of functional commands: Neighbourhood And Safeguarding, Response Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, Tasking and Co-ordination and Support Services, which all report to the Executive Team. Since 2010, Durham Constabulary and neighbouring

have shared road policing and firearms teams through a joint Specialist Operations Unit. These officers are based at Wynyard Park Business Park and Spennymoor. Durham and Cleveland Police have shared a tactical training centre in

Urlay Nook Urlay Nook is a village in the County Durham, England. It is part of the Egglescliffe parish in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees. The village is dominated by the site of the former Elementis chromium chemicals plant and the Admiralty Ecology Si ...

, near

Teesside International Airport Teesside International Airport , previously Durham Tees Valley Airport, is an international airport located between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees, Northern England. It is about south-west of Middlesbrough. The airport serves the North East, ...

(formerly Durham Tees Valley Airport), since 2001. , the force has 1,168

s, 129 special constables, and 131 police community support officers (PCSO), 65 police support volunteers (PSV), and 924 staff.

PEEL inspection

His 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:

References

External links

*
Durham
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

Constabulary Constabulary may have several definitions: *A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and som ...

Police forces of England Government agencies established in 1839 1839 establishments in England