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The Guernsey Police, is the police service for the
Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of ...
, a jurisdictional sub-group of
Crown Dependencies The Crown Dependencies are three dependent territory, offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the The Crown, British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, both lo ...
within the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. The service's enforcement jurisdiction extends across the entire bailiwick and encompasses the Islands of
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
,
Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...
,
Herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, ...
, and
Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...
. The Guernsey Police falls under the government department of Home Affairs,
States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (), officially the States of Deliberation and sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the ...
.


History

In common with many communities, a historical development of parish constables formed the system of law enforcement for many centuries. In the 19th century, the people of Guernsey complained that this system was inadequate for a growing population, and a professional police force was demanded. The parish constables retained their historic role, but from 1853 uniformed assistant constables were appointed. Initially, there were four of them, with a uniform hat and belt worn over their civilian clothing. They provided full-time policing, under the authority of the elected parish constables. The current police force was formed following approval by the States of Deliberation in March 1915, consisting of an inspector, two sergeants, two corporals and eleven constables, with the force being formally founded on 10 April 1920. During the five-year
German occupation of the Channel Islands The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are British Crown dependencies in the ...
the police had a difficult time whilst working alongside the German military police and the ''
Feldgendarmerie The term ''Feldgendarmerie'' (; ) refers to military police units of the armies of the Kingdom of Saxony (from 1810), the German Empire and Nazi Germany up to the end of World War II in Europe. Early history (1810-1918) From 1810 to 1812 King ...
'' (field police). In 1945 the force resumed its normal role and is now considerably expanded, as of 2018 it had 151 officers. These are supported by 94 civilian staff, who work in roles where warranted officers are not required. From March 2015, emergency calls for all emergency services in Guernsey have been routed through the ''Joint Emergency Services Control Centre'' (JESCC), linking police, fire, ambulance and coastguard services. In late January 2019, Guernsey Police led the investigation into the high-profile disappearance of Argentinian footballer
Emiliano Sala Emiliano Raúl Sala Taffarel (; 31 October 1990 – 21 January 2019) was an Argentine professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. After playing youth football in Argentina and following ...
, whose aircraft had last made radar contact near
Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...
. On 10 April 2020, the Guernsey Police celebrated its 100th anniversary, with a planned set of events to commemorate this event. These events were postponed in light of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
which resulted in a lockdown of the island as positive cases were confirmed in the island.


Structure and ranks

The force is headed by a chief officer (CO), with two deputy chief officer's (DCO) as a joint second in command. The current Chief Officer of the Guernsey Police is Ruari Hardy, After the retirement of the previous Chief Officer, Patrick Rice. As of 2020, the two Deputy Chief Officers are Philip Breban and Ian Scholes. Each of the four branches within the Guernsey Police is headed by a chief inspector; the branches are uniformed operations, crime services, operations and specialist services. Significant units within these four divisions include the commercial fraud department, the explosive ordnance disposal unit and the police dog section.


Joint Emergency Services Control Centre (JESCC)

In 2015, Guernsey Police's control room for bailiwick and the Islands of
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
,
Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...
,
Herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, ...
, and
Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...
was combined into one central location. Operators in the room use a bespoke
computer-aided dispatch Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...
software to manage, Police,
Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service is the ambulance and rescue service of Guernsey, the second largest of the Channel Islands, and also provides these services to other islands within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, both those directly governed, and ...
,
Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service The Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service which deals with a broad range of incidents on Guernsey, including fires, road traffic accidents, assisting property owner after storm damage or flooding and incidents ...
, and Guernsey Coastguard
999 (emergency telephone number) 999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for emergency assistance. Countries and territories using the number include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Cook Islands ...
Calls. All four emergency services were merged into one area and all operators are trained to deal with emergency and non-emergency calls, similar to the
Police 101 101 is the police single non-emergency number (SNEN) in the United Kingdom (UK), which automatically connects the caller to their local police force, in a similar manner to the pre-existing 999 emergency number. The 101 service was created to ...
and the
NHS 111 111 is a free-to-call single non-emergency number medical helpline operating in England, Scotland and Wales. The 111 phone service has replaced the various non-geographic 0845 rate numbers and is part of each country's National Health Service: i ...
services. JESCC does not offer on the phone medical advice like the 111 service but triages calls through a standardised set of questions as part of their
computer-aided dispatch Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...
system. Guernsey Coastguard is also based within the Joint Emergency Services control centre and maintains and 24/7 watch on Channel 16 VHF and its local frequency, VHF channel 20. Guernsey Costguard also broadcasts marine Navigation Warnings for the terrestrial waters within the Bailiwick of Guernsey. JESCC staff are all trained in emergency call handling, dispatch of all services land-based emergency services and Coastguard
Search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
. Staff in JESCC are civilians and not members of the Guernsey Police.


Special Constables

Guernsey Police has a system of special constables, with three distinct types of volunteer officer, known as 'A', 'B', or 'C' division of the special constabulary. 'A' division special constables are full-time employees of third party agencies who are granted limited police powers within their workplace, to provide a first response whilst professional police officers are travelling to an incident; for example, a number of hospital porters are sworn as 'A' division special constables to provide an enhanced level of hospital security.Details on the officia
police website
'B' division special constables are fully trained to support their full-time colleagues in all aspects of policing. They are commonly deployed in tandem with professional colleagues at large scale public events, and during weekend periods. 'C' division special constables carry out the duties of a
traffic warden A parking enforcement officer (PEO),United State ...
, but have certain police powers in respect of traffic control, for example around school areas at peak times.


Awards

* On 12 January 1940 Sergeant Charles Le Lievre was awarded the
King's Police Medal for gallantry in relation to an assault on 9 June 1939. * On 11 December 1945, Mr A Lamy was awarded the
British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...
for services rendered during the Occupation. * On 1 January 1957 the
Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...
was awarded to the Chief Officer Mr A Lamy. * The British Empire Medal was awarded to Sergeant Noel Trotter in connection with the rescue of a boy who fell over a cliff on 4 August 1956.


References


External links

*
''Guernsey Police''
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 ...
. {{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
Law enforcement agencies of Guernsey