West Mercia Police (), formerly the West Mercia 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 the counties of

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

(including

Telford and Wrekin Telford and Wrekin is a borough and unitary authority in Shropshire, England. In 1974, a non-metropolitan district of Shropshire was created called The Wrekin. In 1998, the district became a unitary authority and was renamed "Telford and Wrekin" ...

) and Worcestershire in England. The force area covers making it the fourth largest police area in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

. The resident population of the area is 1.19 million Its name comes from the ancient kingdom of

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , y ...

. The force represents a diverse range of policing environments from densely populated urban areas on the edge of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

as well as Telford,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, to sparsely populated rural areas, such as Herefordshire, which remains an important part of the force's responsibility. As of September 2017, the force has a workforce of 2,017 police officers, 223 police community support officers, 1541 police staff and 388 members of the special constabulary. The force has its headquarters in the historical manor house and grounds of Hindlip Hall on the outskirts of

. Its badge combines the

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

History

The force was formed on 1 October 1967, by the merger of the

Worcestershire Constabulary Worcestershire Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for policing rural Worcestershire in central England from 1839 until 1967, when it became part of West Mercia Constabulary. History The Worcestershire Constabulary was formed ...

Herefordshire Constabulary Herefordshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Herefordshire, England, until 1967. The headquarters were at Brockington House, Hafod Road, Hereford. The force was formed in 1857. Following the Police Act 1946 the ...

Shropshire Constabulary Shropshire Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for policing rural Shropshire in central England from 1840 until 1967, when it became part of West Mercia Constabulary. History The Shropshre Constabulary was formed along with bo ...

and Worcester City Police. It lost territory to West Midlands Police when that was constituted on 1 April 1974. It changed its name from "West Mercia Constabulary" to "West Mercia Police" on 5 May 2009.

Merger plans

In November 2005, the government announced major reforms of policing in England and Wales, including the possibility of mergers. Under final 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 nationa ...

on 6 February 2006, it would merge with Staffordshire Police, Warwickshire Constabulary and West Midlands Police to form a single strategic force for the West Midlands region. The proposals were unpopular with many of the local authorities in the West Mercia area, but was criticised especially strongly by West Mercia Constabulary itself, especially as at the time it was rated the best force in the country. When John Reid became

in 2006, he put all merger plans on hold. Subsequent governments have not made any indication of re-introducing such plans.

Chief constables

* 1967–1975 : Sir John Willison * 1975–1981 : Alex Rennie * 1981–1985 : Bob Cozens * 1985–1991 : Anthony Mullett * 1991–1999 : David Cecil Blakey * 1999–2003 : Peter Hampson * 2003–2011 : Paul West * 2011–2016 : David Shaw * 2016–2021 : Anthony Bangham *2021–present : Pippa Mills

Organisation

2015 Vauxhall Vivaro 2900 CDTi West Mercia Police 1

West Mercia Police is overseen by an elected West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner, which replaced the West Mercia Police Authority in 2012. The force is organised into five Local Policing Units ( LPAs), which are alphabetically coded (C, D, E, F, G) by geographical areas. Operating across three counties, West Mercia Police maintains many stations, with each LPA having an HQ Police station. The LPAs are further divided into 82 Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT).

PEEL inspection

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) conducts a periodic police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection of each police service's performance. In its latest PEEL inspection, West Mercia Police was rated as follows:

Volunteer police cadets scheme

A volunteer cadet scheme had existed in the Telford division since the early 1990s and in September 2013, the scheme was expanded force-wide, creating a new detachment of police cadets in each Territorial Policing Unit area. Each detachment is headquartered in the respective TPU HQ, except the South Worcestershire detachment, which is based at Tudor Grange Academy. In 2010, the Telford Cadets Detachment was awarded The

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, also known as The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service by Groups in the Community and The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award is an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sect ...

. According to West Mercia Police's website, "The scheme is aimed at young people who wish to engage in a program that offers them an opportunity to gain a practical understanding of policing, develop their spirit of adventure and good citizenship, while supporting their local policing priorities through volunteering, working with partner agencies and positive participation in their communities." A new intake of approximately 15 new cadets per detachment occurs annually. New recruits must be aged 16 or over and have finished

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

. Young people can remain as cadets for up to two years. Cadets can then consider joining the force at age 18, becoming a cadet leader in their detachment, or leaving the scheme altogether. Each detachment is led by several cadet leaders who are police officers, PCSOs and police volunteers from the force.

Alliances

West Mercia was a partner, alongside three other forces, in the

Central Motorway Police Group The Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) is a co-operative operation between two police forces in the West Midlands of England. Officers from the two forces involved – Staffordshire Police, and West Midlands Police – provide a dedicated p ...

(CMPG). On 8 April 2018, West Mercia withdrew from the CMPG, with the 25 West Mercia police officers attached to the group returning to the in-force roads policing service. In 2013, West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police formed an alliance, sharing certain administrative functions in order to save both forces money. In October 2018, West Mercia announced its intention to withdraw from the alliance.

Controversies

A 2022 inquiry into the

Telford child sexual exploitation scandal The Telford child sexual exploitation scandal was a scandal spanning over several decades in the United Kingdom involving a group of men who were convicted of engaging in sexual contact with local female minors between 2007 and 2009 in Telford in ...

– in which all those who were convicted were British Pakistanis – found that "in some cases the decisions of West Mercia Police officers about whether or not to investigate a particular piece of intelligence or complaint were influenced by assumptions about race. Whether because of ideas of difficulties investigating what was seen as a closed and hostile community, because of fear of complaint, or because of concern about the impact an investigation might have had on racial tensions, I cannot determine".

Bibliography

* ''Policing

1836–1967'' by Douglas J. Elliott. Contains black and white plates, including illustration of badges as a frontispiece.Detail from a copy of ''Policing

'' published by K A F Brewin Books in 1994 with

References

External links

*
West Mercia Police
at HMICFRS {{Authority control Government agencies established in 1967 Organisations based in Worcestershire Police forces of England 1967 establishments in England