Wolverhampton Borough Police was a police service in the Borough of Wolverhampton from 1837–1966, when it was merged into the

West Midlands Constabulary The West Midlands Constabulary was a police force in the West Midlands of England. It was created on 1 April 1966 under the Police Act 1964, with the re-organisation of the Black Country area as the five contiguous county boroughs of Dudley, W ...

. The town's commissioners approved the formation of the police force on 3 August 1837. The original Superintendent was Richard Castle, who was appointed with the assistance of the Metropolitan Police, with a salary of five shillings and six pence per day. The force originally consisted of one sergeant and five police constables and was based in the old Town Hall, Garrick Street. By the early 1900s officer numbers had increased to 109 men. The first female officers were employed in 1937 and were immediately attached to the Criminal Investigation Department. Numbers were increased once more following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, with 215 men and 8 women being in post to meet the increased demand for policing. The force continued to grow in size, with more than 300 police officers employed by the 1960s. Following a Royal Commission on the police in 1960, it was merged with

Dudley Borough Police Dudley Borough Police was a police force in the Borough of Dudley, then an exclave of Worcestershire, in England, from 1920–1966. History From 1839 until 1920, Dudley was policed by the Dudley Division of the Worcestershire Constabulary. ...

and

Walsall Borough Police Walsall Borough Police was a police force in the Borough of Walsall, then in Staffordshire, in England, from 1832–1966. History The force was created on 6 July 1832 with one superintendent and three constables. Following the Municipal C ...

, and parts of the

Staffordshire Constabulary Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authori ...

and

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 forme ...

, to become the

from 1 April 1966.Home Office circular 67-1966 announcing the force's creation
/ref> Since a further merger in 1974, Wolverhampton has been served by the

West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, ...

Chief Constables

*1837–1842 - Richard Castle *1848–1857 - Lt. Col. Gilbert Hogg *1857–1878 - Capt. Henry Sergrave *1878–1891 - Major Robert David Dewar Hay *1891–1916 - Capt. Lindsay Robert Burnett *1916–1929 - David Webster *1930–1943 - Edwin Tilley *1944–1966 - Norman W. Goodchild

References

{{Commons cat, Wolverhampton Borough Police Defunct police forces of England History of Wolverhampton 1837 establishments in England 1966 disestablishments in England Antecedents of the West Midlands Police