Durham Constabulary
Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the council areas of County Durham and Darlington in North East England. It does not cover all of the ceremonial or historic area of Durham, parts of which are covered by the neighbouring forces of Cleveland Police and Northumbria Police. The other neighbouring forces are Cumbria Constabulary to the west and North Yorkshire Police to the south.
, the force has 1,168 police officers, 129 special constables, and 131 police community support officers.
History
Durham Constabulary was one of the first county police forces to be set up, established in 1839. The force absorbed Durham City Police in 1921, Hartlepool Borough Police in 1947, Sunderland Borough Police in 1967, and Gateshead Borough Police and South Shields Borough Police in 1968, when it also lost some of its area to Teesside Constabulary.In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,763 and an actual strength of 1,626.
As a result of the Local [Government Act 1972], the northern area of the force including Gateshead, Sunderland and South Shields became part of the Northumbria Police area, whilst Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees in the south-east became part of the jurisdiction of Cleveland Constabulary in 1974.
Chief constables
- 1848–1892: Colonel George Francis White
- 1892–1902: John Henry Eden
- 1902–1922: William George Morant
- 1922–1942: Sir George Morley
- 1943–1944: Captain H. Studdy
- 1944–1950: Colonel Sir Eric St Johnston
- 1950–1970: Alec A. Muir
- 1970–1976: Arthur George "Peter" Puckering
- 1981–1988: Eldred James Boothby
- 1988–1997: Frank Taylor
- 1997–2002: George Hedges
- 2002–2005: Paul T. Garvin
- 2005–2012: Jon Stoddart
- 2012–2019: Michael Barton
- 2019–2023: Jo Farrell
- 2023–Present: Rachel Bacon
Officers killed in the line of duty
Since 1960, the following officers of Durham Constabulary were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress:
- PC Keith Maddison, 1997
- DC James Brian Porter, 1982
- PC Glenn Russel Corder, 1980
- PC William Ralph Shiell, 1940
- PC Matthew Walls Straughan, 1927
Operations
The force operates through a number of functional commands: Neighbourhood And Safeguarding, Response Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, Tasking and Co-ordination and Support Services, which all report to the Executive Team.
Since 2010, Durham Constabulary and neighbouring Cleveland Police have shared road policing and firearms teams through a joint Specialist Operations Unit. These officers are based at Wynyard Park Business Park and Spennymoor. In May 2021 the Chief Constable of Cleveland Police gave notice that they would be withdrawing from the CDSOU. Since 2022 Clevaland and Durham have operated separate Road Policing and Armed provisions but kept a joint training facility. Durham and Cleveland Police have shared a tactical training centre in Urlay Nook, near Teesside International Airport, since 2001.
, the force has 1,168 police officers, 129 special constables, and 131 police community support officers, 65 police support volunteers, and 924 staff.
PEEL inspection
conducts a periodic police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy inspection of each police service's performance. In its latest PEEL inspection, Durham Constabulary was rated as follows:| Outstanding | Good | Adequate | Requires Improvement | Inadequate | |
| 2021 rating |