Gloucestershire Constabulary

English territorial police force

Law enforcement agency

Gloucestershire Constabulary

Agency overview
Formed| 1839; 186 years ago (1839)
Employees| 2,377 (Sept 2023)[1]
Volunteers| 346 Police Support Volunteers (Sept 2023)[1]
Annual budget| £107.2 million (as of 2017–18)[2]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction| Gloucestershire, England, UK
Map of police area
Size| 1,024 square miles (2,650 km2)[3]
Population| 637,000[3]
Legal jurisdiction| England & Wales
Constituting instrument|

* Police Act 1996

General nature|

* Local civilian police

Operational structure
Overseen by|

* His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
* Independent Office for Police Conduct

Headquarters| Quedgeley, Gloucester
Constables| 1301, and 114 special constables (Sept 2023)[1]
Police community support officers| 119 (Sept 2023)[1]
Police and crime commissioner responsible|

* Chris Nelson

Agency executive|

* Maggie Blyth, Temporary chief constable

Local Policing Areas|

* Forest and Gloucester
* Cheltenham and Tewkesbury
* Cotswolds and Stroud

Website
www.gloucestershire.police.uk
Gloucestershire Constabulary vehicle pictured in 2016

Gloucestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire in South West England.

The force formerly covered the area of South Gloucestershire, however this was transformed to the newly formed Avon and Somerset Constabulary in 1974.

## History

[edit]

The force was founded in 1839, six hours after Wiltshire Constabulary, making it the second rural police force formed in Britain.[4] The force in its present form dates from 1 April 1974, when the southern part of Gloucestershire became part of the County of Avon and thus covered by the newly formed Avon and Somerset Constabulary.[5]

In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,010 and an actual strength of 867.[6]

Between 2010 and 2019, the force lost 238 officers due to Government budget cuts.[7]

From 2013 to 2019, specialist teams – roads, firearms and police dogs – operated in a "tri-force" collaboration with the Avon and Somerset, and Wiltshire forces.[8] In April 2019, this arrangement was ended by the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, Martin Surl, following Avon and Somerset Police withdrawing from the alliance.[9]

In 2019, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services rated the force as 'inadequate' for crime reporting arrangements, after finding that over 7,900 incidents of crime in the county per year, and only 69.2% of violent crimes were recorded accurately.[10][11] The inspection also found 38% of victims were not informed when crime reports were cancelled.[12]

In 2020, the force opened a new £6.8 million police academy, the Sabrina Centre, on the grounds of the former Berkeley Nuclear Power Station.[7][13] This coincided with the force offering new Police Constable Degree Apprenticeships in partnership with the University of South Wales.[13]

### Chief constables

[edit]

* 1839–1865: Anthony Thomas Lefroy (first Chief Constable of Glos)[14]
* 1865–1910: Admiral Henry Christian[14]
* 1910–1917: Lieutenant Colonel Richard Chester-Master (killed in action 1917)
* 1918–1937: Major F.L. Stanley Clarke[15]
* 1937–1959: Colonel William Francis Henn[15]
* 1959–1962: John Gaskain[15]
* 1963–1975: Edwin White[15]
* 1975–1979: Brian Weigh[15]
* 1979–1987: Leonard Soper[15]
* 1987–1993: Albert Pacey[15]
* 1993–2001: Anthony J.P. Butler[15]
* 2001–2010: Timothy Brain[15]
* 2010–2012: Tony Melville[15]
* 2012–2013: Michael Matthews[15]
* 2013–2017: Suzette Davenport[15]
* 2017–present (currently suspended from duty): Rod Hansen[15]
* 2024-present: Maggie Blyth (temporary) - seconded from the College of Policing)[16]

### Officers killed in the line of duty

[edit]

See also: List of British police officers killed in the line of duty

The Police Roll of Honour Trust and Police Memorial Trust 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 1817 the following officers of Gloucestershire Constabulary were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress:[17]

* Parish constable Henry Thompson, 1817 (shot by men attempting to free a prisoner)
* Police sergeant Samuel Beard, 1861 (died from injuries sustained attempting to arrest poachers)
* Police sergeant William Morris, 1895 (fatally injured by men he warned about their conduct)

## Operations

[edit]

The force serves 637,000 people over an area of 1,024 square miles (2,650 km2). and covers a number of royal residences, as well as Cheltenham Racecourse and the headquarters of GCHQ.[18]

As of September 2023[update], the force consisted of 1,301 police officers, 119 police community support officers, 114 special constables and 397 police support volunteers.[1]

Day-to-day policing in the county is split into 55 local communities, organised by three Local Policing Areas each overseen by a superintendent: Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, Gloucester and the Forest of Dean, and Cotswolds and Stroud.[19] Each of these areas contains a Local Policing Team, providing an initial response to incidents, as well as a Neighbourhood Policing Team, which manage local concerns.[19][20]

### Special Constabulary

[edit]

As of March 2020[update], the force had 113 special constables,[21] who are mainly embedded in the Local Policing Teams and Neighbourhood Policing teams.[22] A number of officers have been upskilled in rural crime and the use of 4x4 off-road vehicles to enhance the force's capability in this area.[23]

### Mounted unit

[edit]

Gloucestershire Constabulary introduced a mounted police unit based at Highnam Court for a trial period in 2016, following the conclusion of an eighteen-month study in 2014 by both the University of Oxford and the RAND Corporation. The study surveyed whether the presence of mounted police on regular neighbourhood patrols would improve community engagement with the police, with results showing that members of the public were six times as likely to engage with police on horseback compared to police on foot patrol.[24]

Two horses were initially acquired by Gloucestershire Constabulary from the Metropolitan Police's Mounted Section for the trial unit in 2016, the first horses owned by the force since the 1940s,[25] with the section growing to four horses and three mounted officers by the time the trial concluded in August 2017. The force opted to retain the Mounted Section following the trial;[26] in December 2021, the unit was retained again following a review by Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson into the cost and overall effectiveness of the unit, which had grown to consist of six horses when the review was undertaken.[27]

## PEEL inspection

[edit]

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, Gloucestershire Constabulary was rated as follows:[28]

| Outstanding | Good | Adequate | Requires Improvement | Inadequate

|
|
|
|
|

2021 rating |  |

* Preventing crime
* Treatment of the public
* Disrupting serious organised crime
* Developing a positive workplace

* Managing offenders

|  |

* Investigating crime
* Supporting victims
* Recording data about crime
* Responding to the public
* Protecting vulnerable people
* Good use of resources

Following the 2021 report, HMICFRS reinspected the force in July 2023. They found the force was still inadequate in the area of "Responding to the Public", however had improved in all other areas previously found "Inadequate".[29]

## Investigations

[edit]

In 2015, Gloucestershire police were able to show using biomechanical evidence that Robert Nowak was the driver of a car involved in a crash in 2013 in which his friend Michal Sobolak was killed. Nowak was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and seven years' disqualification from driving for Causing Death by Dangerous Driving, Conspiring to Pervert the Course of Justice and Driving whilst Disqualified.[30][31][32]

## Controversies

[edit]

### Discrimination

[edit]

In November 2006, a tribunal ruled that the constabulary had illegally discriminated against 108 white male candidates it had rejected from its recruitment process solely because of their race and sex in trying to reach government targets for hiring underrepresented groups.[33] Matt Powell, one of the "randomly deselected" candidates, took legal action and was awarded £2,500 compensation. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Equal Opportunities Commission who led the investigation stated that the Gloucestershire Police had unlawfully discriminated on the grounds of race and sex. The same illegal policy was also used by Avon and Somerset Constabulary.[33][34]

### Terrorism

[edit]

A serving Gloucestershire Police officer was arrested on 12 November 2024 by Counter Terrorism Policing South West (CTPSW) officers on suspicion of providing support to a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas, under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The constable has been suspended from all duties by the force and the investigation remains ongoing.[35][36]

## See also

[edit]

* Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
* List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "Police workforce, England and Wales: 30 September 2023: data tables". Home Office. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
2. ^ "Summary of policing | Gloucestershire Constabulary".
3. ^ a b "Overview: Gloucestershire Constabulary". HMICFRS. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
4. ^ Johns, Adam. "Gloucestershire Constabulary the Second Oldest County Force in the United Kingdom". Gloucestershire Police Archives. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
5. ^ "History of the force". Avon and Somerset Police. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
6. ^ The Thin Blue Line, Police Council for Great Britain Staff Side Claim for Undermanning Supplements, 1965
7. ^ a b Boobyer, Leigh (30 July 2019). "How many police county should get from Boris's recruitment drive". GloucestershireLive. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
8. ^ "Police dogs, firearms and road officers comes back in house after Tri Force disbanded". Wiltshire Times. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
9. ^ "Tri-force alliance collapses after discussions 'ended without agreement'". polfed.org. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
10. ^ "Gloucestershire Constabulary fails to record almost 8,000 crimes a year, warns report". Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
11. ^ Boobyer, Leigh (24 July 2019). "Gloucestershire police 'failing to record 8,000 crimes per year'". GloucestershireLive. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
12. ^ Mabe, Huw (27 October 2020). "'Concerns have been addressed' say police after crime reports wrongly cancelled". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
13. ^ a b "Gloucestershire police officers start degree apprenticeship". gloucestershire.police.uk. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
14. ^ a b "Early Policing in the Forest of Dean". Deanweb. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Chief Constables". Gloucestershire Police. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
16. ^ https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2024-10-17/interim-chief-constable-appointed-at-gloucestershire-police
17. ^ Police Roll of Honour Trust. "Police Roll of Honour Trust". policememorial.org.uk.
18. ^ "Summary of policing". gloucestershire.police.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
19. ^ a b "Changes to policing in the county announced". gloucestershire.police.uk. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
20. ^ "What we do". gloucestershire.police.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
21. ^ "Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2020: data tables second edition". Home Office. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
22. ^ "Special constables". gloucestershire.police.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
23. ^ "Neighbourhood Policing officers and Special Constables receive training to drive off-road vehicles". gloucestershire.police.uk. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
24. ^ "Gloucestershire: Police Horses Patrol The County". Heart Radio. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
25. ^ "Gloucestershire Police unveil new mounted unit". Gloucestershire Gazette. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
26. ^ Elder, Lucy (28 August 2017). "Police horses to remain 'on the beat' after successful trial". Horse & Hound. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
27. ^ Garcia, Carmelo (22 December 2021). "Gloucestershire Police to retain horse unit following review". Stroud News & Journal. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
28. ^ "PEEL 2021/22 Police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy: An inspection of Gloucestershire Constabulary" (PDF). Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
29. ^ "Gloucestershire Constabulary: PEEL Cause of Concern revisit letter". His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
30. ^ "Latest Gloucestershire Cheltenham news – Gloucestershire Live". Retrieved 11 September 2016.
31. ^ "Man and woman receive prison sentences for fatal road traffic collision in Cheltenham in 2013". Retrieved 11 September 2016.
32. ^ Shammas, John (15 May 2015). "Police prove lying driver killed his friend – by using Virtual Reality". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
33. ^ a b "Force admits rejecting white men". BBC News. 22 September 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
34. ^ "Police force admits discriminating against white recruits". Evening Standard. London. 21 September 2006. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
35. ^ "Gloucestershire Police officer arrested on suspicion of terror offence bailed". BBC News. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
36. ^ Allison, George (12 November 2024). "Police officer arrested for allegedly supporting Hamas". Retrieved 16 November 2024.

## External links

[edit]

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