Due to various parliamentary Acts the numbers of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom has varied drastically since the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 set up the first modern police force in London.
There are currently over 60 law enforcement agencies operating in the United Kingdom. See List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories for these.
For former (non-police) law enforcement agencies, see Category:Defunct law enforcement agencies of the United Kingdom . For defunct police forces, see Category:Defunct police forces of the United Kingdom
England and Wales police forces
Abolished before 1889
The County Police Act 1840 allowed for borough police forces to voluntarily amalgamate with county constabularies.
Abingdon Borough Police , to BerkshireAndover Borough Police (1846, to Hampshire)Banbury Borough Police , to OxfordshireBodmin Borough Police (1865, to Cornwall)Bradninch Borough Police (1865, to Devon)Chipping Norton Borough Police , to OxfordshireHenley Borough Police , to OxfordshireHoniton Borough Police; (to Devon County)
Launceston Borough Police (1883, to Cornwall)Liskeard Borough Police (1877, to Cornwall)Lymington Borough Police (1852, to Hampshire)Monmouth Borough Police (1881, to Monmouthshire)Newbury Borough Police (1875, to Berkshire)Okehampton Borough Police (1860, to Devon)Romsey Borough Police (1865, to Hampshire)South Molton Borough Police (1877, to Devon)Tavistock Borough Police (1856, to Devon)Thames River Police , absorbed into the London Metropolitan Police in 1839Torrington Borough Police (1870, then again from 1878 to 1886, to Devon)Torquay Borough Police (1870, to Devon)Totnes Borough Police (1884, to Devon)Wallingford Borough Police , to BerkshireWantage Borough Police , to BerkshireWarwick Borough Police (1875, to Warwickshire)Wolborough Borough Police (1859, to Devon)
Abolished under the Local Government Act 1888
The Act, which came into force in 1889 passed control of county constabularies to standing joint committees of county councillors and magistrates, and merged smaller borough police forces (where the town had a population of less than 10,000) with the county police.
Basingstoke Borough Police (1889, to Hampshire)Bideford Borough Police (1889, to Devon)Buckingham Borough Police (1889 to Buckinghamshire)Deal Borough Police (1889, to Kent)Falmouth Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)Faversham Borough Police (1889, to Kent)Helston Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)Hertford Borough Police (1889, to Hertfordshire)Hythe Borough Police (1889, to Kent)Maidenhead Borough Police (1889, to Berkshire)Newport Borough Police (1890, to Isle of Wight)Penryn Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)Sandwich Borough Police (1889, to Kent)Stratford-upon-Avon Borough Police (1889, to Warwickshire)St Ives Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)Tenterden Borough Police (1889, to Kent)
NB – Some were re-constituted after the war but then abolished in 1946.
Abolished under the Police Act 1946
Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Police hat badge, in the collection of the Staffordshire County Museum and displayed at the Shire Hall, Stafford Non-county borough forces County borough forces County forces
Abolished under the Police Act 1964
Borough forces County/combined forces
Abolished by the Local Government Act 1972
All territorial police forces in England and Wales (except the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police) were abolished and reconstituted at midnight on 31 March 1974/1 April 1974. This list shows the ones that existed then and their fate (ignoring minor transfers).
Bedfordshire and Luton Constabulary ; reconstituted as Bedfordshire Police Birmingham City Police ; merged into West Midlands Police Bradford City Police ; merged into West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police Bristol City Constabulary ; merged into Avon and Somerset Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary ; reconstituted, areas transferred to Merseyside Police and Greater Manchester Police Cumbria Constabulary ; reconstitutedDerby County and Borough Constabulary ; reconstituted as Derbyshire Constabulary Devon and Cornwall Constabulary ; reconstitutedDorset and Bournemouth Constabulary ; reconstituted as Dorset Police Durham Constabulary ; reconstituted, areas transferred to Cleveland Constabulary and Northumbria Police Dyfed-Powys Constabulary ; reconstitutedEssex and Southend-on-Sea Joint Constabulary ; reconstituted as Essex Police Gloucestershire Constabulary ; reconstituted, areas transferred to Avon and Somerset Constabulary Gwent Constabulary ; reconstitutedGwynedd Constabulary ; reconstituted as North Wales Police Hampshire Constabulary ; reconstituted, areas transferred to Dorset Police Hertfordshire Constabulary ; reconstitutedKent County Constabulary ; reconstitutedKingston-upon-Hull City Police ; merged into Humberside Police Lancashire Constabulary ; reconstituted, areas transferred to Merseyside Police , Greater Manchester Police , Cheshire Constabulary and Cumbria Constabulary Leeds City Police ; merged into West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police Leicester and Rutland Constabulary ; reconstituted as Leicestershire Constabulary Lincolnshire Constabulary ; reconstituted, areas transferred to Humberside Police Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary ; merged into Merseyside Police Manchester and Salford Police ; merged into Greater Manchester Police Mid-Anglia Constabulary ; reconstituted as Cambridgeshire Constabulary Norfolk Constabulary ; reconstitutedNorthampton and County Constabulary ; reconstituted as Northamptonshire Constabulary Northumberland Constabulary ; merged into Northumbria Police Nottinghamshire Combined Constabulary ; reconstituted as Nottinghamshire Police Sheffield and Rotherham Constabulary ; merged into South Yorkshire Police Somerset and Bath Constabulary ; merged into Avon and Somerset Constabulary South Wales Constabulary ; reconstitutedStaffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary ; reconstituted as Staffordshire Police Suffolk Constabulary ; reconstitutedSurrey Constabulary ; reconstitutedSussex Constabulary ; reconstitutedTeesside Constabulary ; merged into Cleveland Constabulary Thames Valley Constabulary ; reconstitutedWarwickshire and Coventry Constabulary ; split between Warwickshire Constabulary and West Midlands Police West Mercia Constabulary ; reconstitutedWest Midlands Constabulary ; merged into West Midlands Police West Yorkshire Constabulary ; split mainly between West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police , South Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police Wiltshire Constabulary ; reconstitutedYork and North East Yorkshire Police ; split between North Yorkshire Police , Humberside Police , Durham Constabulary and Cleveland Constabulary .[ 1]
Irish police forces
The partition of Ireland under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and the subsequent independence of the Irish Free State in 1922 led to the replacement of the Royal Irish Constabulary with the Garda Síochána (in the Free State, later Éire or Republic of Ireland ) and by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (in Northern Ireland ). Defunct police forces in Ireland:
Scottish police forces
Each police burgh had a police force originally, although many merged in the 19th century. The gradual process of amalgamation culminated with the creation of a single Police Service of Scotland in 2013.
Abolished 1930 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 merged two pairs of county constabularies.
Abolished 1931–1946 Abolished under the Police (Scotland) Act 1946
Abolished 1950s Abolished 1960s Abolished 1975 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 created new police forces based on the new regions and island areas from 16 May 1975.
Abolished 2013 An Act of the Scottish Parliament , the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 , created a single Police Service of Scotland – better known as Police Scotland – and a single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with effect from 1 April 2013. (The functions of the British Transport Police , the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Ministry of Defence Police within Scotland were not affected).
Railway police forces
From the archives of the British Transport Police :
Birmingham and Derby Railway Police (1836)Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Police (1836)Bristol & Exeter Railway Police (1836–1876)Bristol Joint Railway Station Police (1865–1948)Caledonian Railway Police (1845–1922)Cambrian Railways Police (1867–1923)Cardiff Railway Police (1897–1921)Cheshire Line Committee Police (1865–1948)Dundee and Arbroath Railway Police (1836–1923)Eastern Counties Railway Police (1836–1862)Eastern Union Railway Police (1847–1862)East Lincolnshire Railway Police (1848)Festiniog Railway Police (1884)Furness Railway Police (1844–1922)Great Central Railway Police (1897–1923)Great Eastern Railway Police (1862–1923)Great Northern Railway Police (1848–1923)Great Western Railway Police (1835–1947)Hull and Barnsley Railway Police (1885 – 1922, became part of (North Eastern Railway Police)Hull and Selby Railway Police (1836/1854 – 1872, became part of North Eastern Railway Police)Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Police (1833–1846)Lancaster and Carlisle Railway Police (1844–1879, became part of London & North Western Railway Police)London & Birmingham Railway Police (1833–1846)London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Police (1846–1923)London & Croydon Railway Police (1835–1846)London & Greenwich Railway Police (1833–1844)London, Midland and Scottish Railway Police (1923–1948)London & North Eastern Railway Police (1923–1948)London & North Western Railway Police (1846–1923)London and Southampton Railway Police (1838–1839)London & South West Railway Police (1839–1923)London, Tilbury & Southend Railway Police (1854–1912, became part of Midland Railway Police)London Transport Police (April 1934 – 1 December 1958, became part of British Transport Commission )London Underground Railways (13 April 1933–?, became part of London Transport Police)Manchester & Leeds Railway Police (1837–1847)Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Police (1836–1844)Midland Counties Railway Police (1836–1844)Newcastle & North Shields Railway Police (1839 – )North British Railway Police (1840–1844)Northern & Eastern Counties Railway Police (1840–1844)North Eastern Railway Police (1854–1923)North Staffordshire Railway Police (1845–1923)Pembroke and Tenby Railway Police (1859–1897)Stockton & Darlington Railway Police (1846–1876)South Devon Railway Police (1846–1876)South Eastern Railway Police (1836–1898)Southern Railway Police (1923–1948)South Eastern & Chatham Railway Police (1898–1923)South Wales Railway Police (1845–1863)Taff Vale Railway Police (1919–1923)York, North Midland Railway Police (1839–1854)
Docks and port police forces
Airport police forces
Other police forces
Churches
Departmental constabularies
Merged to form the Admiralty Constabulary in 1949.
Merged to form the Ministry of Defence Police in 1974.
Markets
Miscellaneous
National
Parks
London
Non-London
Non-police law enforcement agencies
References
External links
