The Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) was a co-operative operation between two police forces in the West Midlands of England. The department ceased operations in September 2024, where the jurisdiction of each area returned to the home force. Officers from the two forces involved –

Staffordshire Police 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 11 local policing teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authoritie ...

, and

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

– provide a dedicated policing service on several hundred miles of the motorway network in the

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

and West Midlands police areas. Previously the group also included

West Mercia Police West Mercia Police (), formerly the West Mercia Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire (including Telford and Wrekin) and Worcestershire in England. The force area cover ...

and

Warwickshire Police Warwickshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Warwickshire in England. It is the second smallest territorial police force in England and Wales after the City of London Police, with 1,126 regular officers as of Ju ...

. The radio control room was based at Quinton working with

National Highways National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in Eng ...

, and central vehicle depot is located adjacent to the M6 at

Perry Barr Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is also the name of a Government of Birmingham, England#Council constituencies, council constituency, managed by its own ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

where Thornbridge Avenue passes under the motorway. The depot has direct access onto both the northbound and southbound carriageways of the motorway allowing police vehicles to respond faster to incidents. In June 2008, police forces in North West England established the North West Motorway Police Group covering the motorways in their respective areas following the success of the CMPG.

History

The CMPG was first formed in 1990, when

West Mercia Constabulary West Mercia Police (), formerly the West Mercia Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire (including Telford and Wrekin) and Worcestershire in England. The force area cover ...

, now known as West Mercia Police, and West Midlands Police formed a partnership to police approximately of motorway in

, the West Midlands and North Worcestershire. Staffordshire Police and

joined the partnership in 2001, bringing the motorway sections in those counties within the Group's area of responsibility, while West Mercia increased its input. Warwickshire withdrew from the CMPG in April 2007 and West Mercia announced their intention to withdraw in July 2017, partly due to the Strategic Alliance they have with Warwickshire. West Mercia Police withdrew from CMPG in April 2018.

References

External links

Official Website
{{UK policing units Motorway police units of the United Kingdom 1990 establishments in England Organizations established in 1990

History

See also

References

External links