North Wales Police

North Wales Police (Welsh: Heddlu Gogledd Cymru) is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. Its headquarters are in Colwyn Bay.

North Wales Police
Heddlu Gogledd Cymru
Agency overview
Formed1974
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionAnglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham, Wales, United Kingdom
Map of North Wales Police's jurisdiction.
Size6,290 km²
Population675,700
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersColwyn Bay
Sworn members1,483 (of which 136 are Special Constables)[1]
Police and Crime Commissioner responsible
Agency executive
  • Carl Foulkes, Chief Constable
Divisions
Website
www.north-wales.police.uk

History
North Wales Police Headquarters in Colwyn Bay

Gwynedd Constabulary was formed in 1950 by the amalgamation of the Caernarfonshire, Anglesey and Merionethshire Constabularies. In 1965, the force had an establishment of 308 and an actual strength of 296.[2]

Flintshire Constabulary and Denbighshire Constabulary were merged into the force in 1967, but it retained its existing name. On 1 April 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 created an administrative county of Gwynedd covering part of the police area (equivalent to the original Gwynedd Constabulary area). To avoid confusion, the force was renamed North Wales Police.

Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on 6 February 2006, the force would merge with Dyfed-Powys Police, Gwent Police and South Wales Police to form a single strategic force for all of Wales. The proposals were later shelved.

On 4 May 2011, North Wales Police completed a major restructuring, moving from 3 territorial divisions to a single North Wales-wide Policing function.

Governance

The force was previously overseen by a police authority, consisting of 17 members (9 councillors, 3 magistrates and 5 independent members). The councillors were appointed by a Joint Committee from Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham councils. The Police Authority was replaced by the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner in November 2012.

Collaborations

North Wales Police is a partner in the following collaboration:

  • North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit
  • North Wales and Cheshire Firearms Alliance
  • Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit

Controversy

In the 2000s, North Wales Police has attracted a great deal of media attention, largely attributed to its former Chief Constable, Richard Brunstrom. Brunstrom was a controvertial figure, mainly because of his vocal views on speeding motorists and the legalisation of drugs.[3] The Sun newspaper dubbed him the "Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taleban." However, he also earned respect for modernising the force's infrastructure, and learning the Welsh language, actively promoting the normalisation of its use within the force at all levels and conversing publicly through it on numerous occasions.

In April 2007, Brunstrom came under fire for an incident in which he showed a photograph of the severed head of a biker in a press meeting without the family's permission, to make a point about road safety. The photo enabled the media to identify the deceased, since he was wearing a distinctive T-shirt with an anti-police message on it, which gained a lot of attention during the inquest.[4]Brunstrom maintained (in both the invitation and verbally) that it was a "closed" meeting, and that no details of the picture should have been leaked. Motorcycle News magazine handed in a 1,600 signature petition to the Independent Police Complaints Commission requesting Brunstrom be removed.[5] The IPCC confirmed that it would carry out an independent review into the incident.[6]

North Wales Police has also attracted attention due to its investigation into allegations of anti-Welsh comments by TV personality Anne Robinson and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. The force was believed to have carried out these investigations following complaints from members of the public. The 10-month investigation into the Prime Minister was dropped on 11 July 2006 due to a lack of evidence. It had cost £1,656, whereas the Anne Robinson investigation cost £3,800.[7]

North Wales Police is one of only three forces in England and Wales (the others being neighbouring Dyfed-Powys Police and the British Transport Police[8]) to equip their Police Community Support Officers with handcuffs, which remains controversial.[9][10] As of 31 March 2011 North Wales Police have 159 PCSOs.[11]

Between April 2017 and April 2019, it was twice investigated about the circumstances behind the murder of Nicolas Churton by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Additionally, a separate inquiry about the allegations made by Ian Lucas, Member of Parliament for Wrexham that he had been misled about the case by Mark Polin, the Chief Constable.[12][13]

List of Chief Constables
  • Sir Philip Myers, 1974 to 1982
  • David Owen, 1982 to 1994
  • Michael Argent, 1994 to 2001
  • Richard Brunstrom, 2001 to 2009
  • Mark Polin, 2010 to 2018
  • Gareth Pritchard (temporary) 2018 to 2019
  • Carl Foulkes, 2019 to present
gollark: I didn't add a reminder cancellation feature.
gollark: ++remind 1y Remind Nobody.
gollark: Through using R. Danny, or bothering someone to remind you, or what?
gollark: I can probably write you a reminders system you can run yourself (eventually), though the main issue is just how to keep it running and how it should send you notifications.
gollark: If you want guarantees use your own stuff.

See also

References
  1. "Tables for 'Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2013". HM Government. Office for National Statistics. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  2. The Thin Blue Line, Police Council for Great Britain Staff Side Claim for Undermanning Supplements, 1965
  3. "Police chief: my speed obsession". 3 November 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  4. "Row over decapitated biker photo". 27 April 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  5. "We deliver your Brunstrom petition to the IPCC". motorcyclenews.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  6. "Force faces biker photo inquiry". 3 May 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  7. "No action over PM Welsh 'insult'". 11 July 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  8. https://www.btprecruitment.com/FullFAQs.asp%5B%5D
  9. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/articles/cops-on-the-cheap-reporters-feature
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1311/hosb1311?view=Binary
  12. "IOPC calls for better information sharing following investigation into North Wales Police contact with Jordan Davidson". The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). 28 November 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  13. "Adjournment Debate Police complaints, accountability and the case of Nicholas Churton". Parliamentlive.tv. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020.

Video clips
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