Common name Guernsey Police Formed 1915 | Abbreviation GYPD Size 78 km² | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Operations jurisdiction* Police area of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, GBG | ||
The States of Guernsey Police Service, known generally as the Guernsey Police, is the Police service for the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a jurisdictional sub-group of Crown Dependencies within the Channel Islands.
Contents
The Service's enforcement jurisdiction extends across the entire Bailiwick and encompasses the Islands of Guernsey, Alderney, Herm, and Sark.
History
In common with many communities, a historical development of parish constables formed the system of law enforcement for many centuries. In the nineteenth century the people of Guernsey complained that this system was inadequate for a growing population, and a professional police force was demanded. The parish constables retained their historic role, but from 1853 uniformed 'Assistant Constables' were appointed. Initially there were four of them, with a uniform hat and belt worn over their civilian clothing. They provided full-time policing, under the authority of the elected parish constables. The current police force was formed following approval by the States of Deliberation in March 1915, consisting of an inspector, two sergeants, two corporals and eleven constables. During the five year German occupation of the Channel Islands the Police had a difficult time whilst working alongside the German military police and the Feldgendarmerie (Field Police). In 1945 the force resumed its normal role and is now considerably expanded, as of 2015 it had 147 Officers. These are supported by 79 civilian staff, who work in roles where warranted Officers are not required.
Structure and ranks
The force is headed by a Chief Officer (CO), with a Deputy Chief Officer (DCO) as second in command and a Superintendent as third in command. The current Chief Officer of the Guernsey Police is Patrick Rice. The current Deputy Chief Officer is Nigel Taylor and the current Superintendent is Ruari Hardy. Each of the four branches within the Guernsey Police is headed by a Chief Inspector; the branches are Uniformed Operations, Crime Services, Corporate Services and Specialist Services. Significant units within these four divisions include the commercial fraud department, the explosive ordinance disposal unit and the Police dog section.
Special Constables
Guernsey Police has a system of special constables, with three distinct types of volunteer officer, known as "A", "B", or "C" division of the special constabulary. B division special constables are fully trained to support their full-time colleagues in all aspects of policing. C division special constables carry out the duties of a traffic warden, but have certain police powers in respect of traffic control. A division special constables are full-time employees of third party agencies who are granted limited police powers within their work place, to provide a first response whilst professional police officers are travelling to an incident; for example, a number of hospital porters are sworn as A division special constables to provide an enhanced level of hospital security.
Contact
From March 2015, emergency calls for all Emergency Services in Guernsey have been routed through the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre (JESCC), linking Police, Fire, Ambulance and Coastguard services.