Abbreviation SYP Size 1,554 km² Motto Justice with courage Founded 1974 Plane 1 | Formed 1974 Headquarters Sheffield, United Kingdom Stations 24 Dogs 48 | |
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Preceding agencies Sheffield and Rotherham Constabulary
Parts of West Yorkshire Constabulary – Barnsley Borough Police and Doncaster Borough Police Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Operations jurisdiction* Police area of county of South Yorkshire (i.e. the metropolitan districts of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield), UK Annual budget 251 million GBP (2012–2013) Profiles | ||
South yorkshire police crack down on drivers using mobile phones
South Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England. The force's roads policing unit and its helicopter, Sierra Yankee 99, have been a feature in three television series: Traffic Cops, Sky Cops and Police Interceptors. The current Police and Crime Commissioner is Alan Billings, a former Anglican priest and Deputy Leader of Sheffield City Council who was elected at a by-election on 30 October 2014, to replace Shaun Wright, the incumbent who resigned in the wake of the Rotherham child sexual exploitation controversy.
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Police area
The police force covers an area of approximately 600 square miles (approx. 1,554 square kilometres) which is made up of the county's three boroughs (Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham) along with the City of Sheffield. The resident population is 1.2 million. The force is the thirteenth largest of the 44 forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The force is divided into four basic command units (BCUs):
Force Headquarters is based at Carbrook House, in Tinsley, Sheffield. This is a move from Snig Hill Police Station that occurred in early 2013. This move saw the Senior Command Team and other services (such as firearms licensing) into one location. This has been funded by the sale of out-dated buildings, including West Bar Police Station, and the future sale of vacated properties.
Management
The interim Chief Constable is Stephen Watson who replaced DCC Dawn Copley who stood down a day after assuming the post due to 'conduct at a previous force was being investigated'. She had assumed the post after Mr Crompton was suspended regarding comments made about the Hillsborough disaster. The Chief Constable is assisted by ACC Jo Byrne and Temporary ACC Rachel Barber. Nigel Hiller is the Director of Finance.
The South Yorkshire Special Constabulary is headed by Chief Officer Stephen Merrett. He is assisted by Deputy Chief Officer Andy Taylor.
Governance
South Yorkshire Police is governed by the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner,. The election took place on 15 November 2012, the same day as 40 other elections for the respective Police and Crime Commissioners (the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police having other elected officials acting as Commissioner). His deputy, Tracey Cheetham, was confirmed by the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel in January 2013. This is a salaried position, which is coming under scrutiny by local press.
Before November 2012 police governance was undertaken by the South Yorkshire Police Authority, made up of elected councillors from the four metropolitan boroughs.
History
The force was formed in 1974, as a merger of the previous Sheffield and Rotherham Constabulary along with part of the West Yorkshire Constabulary area (which Barnsley Borough Police and Doncaster Borough Police had been merged into on 1 October 1968).
During the miners strike of 1984 officers from South Yorkshire attacked striking miners then arrested 95 on the charge of rioting. It was found the Police Force had fabricated evidence, carried out false arrest and assaulted miners. No police officer has ever been disciplined or accepted responsibility for their actions. Ex officer Tony Munday has called for an inquiry into how South Yorkshire Police handled the aftermath of the Battle of Orgreave claiming he was told what to put in his statement "by a senior South Yorkshire detective" after he arrested a miner during the Orgreave confrontation. "I've never before or since, while I've been a police officer, been involved where effectively chunks of a statement were dictated. They weren't my words,"
The force was condemned by Prime Minister David Cameron in September 2012 for their dishonesty and negligence in their handling of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which led to an apology from the then Chief Constable David Crompton. The Hillsborough Independent Panel had exposed the way in which the force had attempted to divert blame from their own mishandling of the tragedy by feeding false information to the media and altering statements given by their own officers. In June 2013, UK newspaper The Guardian reported on emails sent by Crompton in which he had suggested that the families of fans killed at the Hillsborough disaster had been untruthful. In one, Crompton had written: "One thing is certain – the Hillsborough Campaign for Justice will be doing their version … in fact their version of certain events has become 'the truth' even though it isn't!! I just have the feeling that the media 'machine' favours the families and not us, so we need to be a bit more innovative in our response to have a fighting chance otherwise we will just be roadkill."
The force's judgement has been called into question over a number of incidents involving the sexual abuse of minors in Rotherham, where prosecutions were not undertaken.
On 27 April 2016, it was reported that the force's Chief Constable David Crompton was to be suspended following statements made by South Yorkshire Police after the verdict of the jury in the second Hillsborough disaster inquest. He was temporarily replaced by Deputy Chief Constable Dawn Copley, but the following day it was announced that she herself would be stepping down "in the interests of the force and the workforce" after an investigation into her conduct whilst serving as Assistant Chief Constable at Greater Manchester Police was reported.
On 10 May 2016 it was reported that two serving police officers, a pilot serving with the National Police Air Service and two retired police officers who crewed the South Yorkshire Police helicopter are to stand trial accused of misusing the camera on the SY Police helicopter to film people who were naked or having sex. Four of the men deny charges of misconduct in a public office and are due to stand trial at Sheffield Crown Court on 17 July 2017. A fifth man did not appear at the hearing.
Roll of Honour
This table sorts names alphabetically by default. The Roll of Honour is a list of all sworn police officers who have died whilst on duty. The Roll of Honour is provided by the national police charity, the Police Roll of Honour Trust.