West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police
Logo of the West Yorkshire Police.
Motto	In the Public Service
Agency overview
Formed	1974
Preceding agencies	West Yorkshire Constabulary Leeds City Police Bradford City Police
Employees	9,853[1]
Volunteers	403[1]
Annual budget	£396.0 million[1]
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	Police area of West Yorkshire in the country of England, UK
Map of West Yorkshire Police's jurisdiction.
Size	2,029 km²
Population	2,108,000
Legal jurisdiction	England & Wales
Governing body	West Yorkshire Police Authority
Constituting instrument	Police Act 1996
General nature	Law enforcement Local civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Wakefield
Constables	6,225 (of which 403 are Special Constables)[1]
Police Community Support Officers	757[1]
Agency executive	Sir Norman Bettison, Chief Constable
Divisons	8
Facilities
Stations	41
Website
http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/
Footnotes
* Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers.

West Yorkshire Police Authority contains 9 councillors, and 8 independent members. The councillors are appointed by the five borough councils in the area - Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.

West Yorkshire Police was formed in 1974, when part of the West Yorkshire Constabulary (itself created in 1968, and covering a much larger area) was amalgamated with the Leeds City Police and Bradford City Police, under the Local Government Act 1972. The force was originally known as the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police.^[2][3]

Proposals made by the Home Secretary on March 21, 2006 would see the force merge with North Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police to form a strategic police force for the entire region. These plans are currently under review and not expected to take place in the foreseeable future.

On 12 December 2006, Sir Norman Bettison was announced as the new Chief Constable, replacing Colin Cramphorn.

West Yorkshire Police is reported to have had £6.3 million GBP invested in failed Icelandic financial institutions.^{[citation needed]}

Divisional structure

For operational purposes, West Yorkshire Police is divided into eight divisions. The force headquarters is on Laburnum Road to the north of Wakefield city centre along with the Force Training School at Bishopgarth. The divisions with their associated stations and divisional identifiers are:

Neighbourhood Policing Teams

Within West Yorkshire Police, there is an operational focus on Neighbourhood Policing. The three 'aims' of Neighbourhood Policing are as follows^[12]:

• Dedicated and accountable teams with local ownership
• Intelligence-led targeting of the problems that matter most to the public
• Joint action by police, partner agencies and the public

Each division has a number of Neighbourhood Policing Teams, consisting of an Inspector; who is in turn in charge of three teams, headed by a Sergeant and made up of Police Constables, PCSOs and Special Constables. The three teams work in a shift pattern so that the neighbourhood will always have a Neighbourhood Policing Team on duty.

Below is a table of all Neighbourhood Policing Teams within West Yorkshire Police:

Former Divisions

The grid below details the make up of the divisions from 2000 to present. Many of the division mergers were implemented to align police divisions with local council wards.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]}

Former West Yorkshire Police divisions from 2000 to present.

Notable cases

• The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (1975 to 1981)
• Chapeltown riots (1975, 1981 and 1987)
• Bradford riots (2001)
• Harehills riot (2001)
• The disappearance of Shannon Mathews (2008)

Otley Police Station

Millgarth Police Station in Leeds. The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper was conducted from here.

See also

• Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
• Table of police forces in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• West Yorkshire Police Website
• West Yorkshire Police Neighbourhood Policing Teams Website
• West Yorkshire Police Authority Website
• West Yorkshire Crime Statistics Website

Video clips

• West Yorkshire Police Video Website
• West Yorkshire YouTube channel