Leicestershire Police

Updated on Nov 18, 2023

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Formed 1839, 1967 (merger) Annual budget £169,600,331		Employees 1,299

Motto Protecting our communities Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Operations jurisdiction* Police area of Leicestershire, Leicester, Rutland, UK

Leicestershire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Leicestershire and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire.

The current Chief Constable is Simon Cole.

History

Leicestershire Police was formed in 1839. In 1951 it amalgamated with Rutland Constabulary to form Leicestershire and Rutland Constabulary and in 1967 merged with Leicester City Police to form Leicester and Rutland Constabulary. After the Local Government Act 1972 came into force in 1974 it was renamed Leicestershire Constabulary. In 2012 it changed to Leicestershire Police to be 'in keeping with modern policing'.

In 1965, Leicestershire and Rutland Constabulary had an establishment of 748 officers and an actual strength of 659.

Proposals made by the Home Secretary on 20 March 2006 would have seen the force merge with the other four East Midlands forces to form a strategic police force for the entire region. These plans were dropped in 2007.

In 2015 the force attempted to carry out a covert CCTV face recognition surveillance operation at the Download Festival, in which festival-goers would have their faces compared with a database of custody images, and only informed about the surveillance afterwards. The operation was inadvertently revealed in the magazine Police Oracle before the festival took place.

Local Policing Units

The local policing units for Leicestershire Police are as follows:

City:

City Centre - Belgrave Gate

Spinney Hill Park (in the Highfields) - Formerly known as Asfordby Street

Welford Road

Hinckley Road

Beaumont Leys

Keyham Lane

Counties:

North West Leicestershire

Loughborough

Charnwood

Melton

Rutland

Blaby

Hinckley

Harborough

Oadby and Wigston

Officers killed in the line of duty

The Police Roll of Honour Trust lists and commemorates all British police officers killed in the line of duty, and since its establishment in 1984 has erected over 38 memorials to some of those officers.

The following officers of Leicestershire Police are listed by the Trust as having died attempting to prevent, stop or solve a crime, since the turn of the 20th century:

PCs Bryan Reginald Moore and Andrew Carl Munn, 2002 (fatally injured when their vehicle was rammed during a police pursuit).

Sergeant Brian Dawson, 1975 (shot dead upon arrival at reports of a man firing into the street).

PC William Adiel Wilkinson, 1903 (shot dead in ambush by men who bore police a grudge).

PC Thomas George Barrett, 1886 (beaten to death by a man he spoke to about non-payment of a fine).

Aircraft

Eurocopter EC135

Vehicles

Ford V8 Pilot (1949–53)

Mercedes Benz Sprinter

VW Crafter

Ford Transit

Ford Focus

Vauxhall Astra

BMW X1

BMW 5 Series

BMW X5

Toyota Hi-Lux

Ford S-Max

Firearms

Lee–Enfield .303 and Webley & Scott .38 (police special) 1939–45.

Heckler & Koch G36

Heckler & Koch MP5

Glock 17

X26 Taser

Roads Policing Unit

The roads policing unit drive marked BMW 5 series estates and BMW X5s. They have various unmarked Skodas, Audis, and BMWs. They also have a number of BMW motorcycles.

Uniform

Black operational shirt for Constables and a blue operational shirt for PCSOs

White operational shirt for senior officers and ceremonial use

Peaked cap or PCSO flat cap (male officers)

Custodian helmet

Pathfinder cap (female officers)

Reflective or black protective body armour vest

Source: Pinecrest

References

Leicestershire Police Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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