Police Act 1964: Difference between revisions

|statute_book_chapter=[[List of acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1964|1964]] c. 48

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A '''Royal Commission on the Police''' had been appointed in 1960 under the chairmanship of [[Henry Willink]] to ''"review the constitutional position of the police throughout Great Britain".''

The appointment of the commission followed two high-profile scandals involving borough police forces. These exposed problems in the relationship between the chief constable and [[Watchwatch Committeecommittee]] of each borough, and disputes between central and local government over the control of local forces. In 1958, following a trial into police corruption in [[Brighton]], the presiding judge stated that the judiciary could have no faith in police evidence until the chief constable had been replaced.<ref>{{cite news |title=Police need of "leader" -– Judge's fear for Brighton force |work=The Times |date=7 March 1958}}</ref> Brighton Watch Committee complained that they could not properly supervise the force, as they had no access to the annual report of [[Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary]], which was sent to the Home Secretary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Britain's police forces: forever removed from democratic control? |url=http://www.historyandpolicy.org/archive/policy-paper-16.html |publisher=History & Policy |first=Chris A. |last=Williams}}</ref> In 1959, the watch committee of Nottingham suspended the city's chief constable, Aethalstan[[Athelstan Popkess]], when he refused to furnish a report on his investigations into alleged corruption of councillors.<ref>{{cite news |title=Suspension Ofof Police Chief |work=The Times |date=10 July 1959}}</ref> Details of the investigation were however leaked to the press on the eve of municipal elections. The committee were subsequently forced to reinstate Popkess when the Home Secretary, [[Rab Butler]], threatened to withdraw central government funding.<ref>{{cite news |title=Captain Popkess To Resume Onon Monday |work=The Times |date=8 August 1959}}</ref>

*The remuneration of police constables<ref>''Royal Commission on the Police 1960: interim report'', [http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref10993.html BOPCRIS website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004826/http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref10993.html |date=27 September 2007 }}</ref>

The Act received the [[royal assent]] on 10 June 1964. <ref>{{cite news |title=Dates for Police Act changes |work=The Times |date=19 June 1964}}</ref> Among its provisions were:

*The [[Powers of the home secretary|Home Secretary had the power]] to force compulsory amalgamation schemes from 1 July 1964.

*New "[[Police authority|Policepolice Authoritiesauthorities]]" were to be established: these were to be known as watch committees (in boroughs), police committees (in counties -– replacing joint standing committees) or combined police authorities.

*Police authorities were to consist of two-thirds elected members and one-third magistrates. Previously all members of watch committees had been councillors or aldermen, while county SJCsjoint standing committees were fifty percentper cent county councillors and aldermen, fifty percentper cent magistrates.

*The police authorities had lessfewer powers than their predecessors, especially the boroughs, with the Home Secretary taking on more supervision than before. The authority were required to maintain an efficient police force, but had no operational role.

*Chief constables were given the power to appoint, direct and control special constables.

*The chief constable could appoint [[Britishpolice Policecadets Cadetsin the United Kingdom|police cadets]] with the permission of the authority.

*Police authorities were empowered to choose chief constables, deputy and assistant chief constables from a [[Home Office]] shortlist. They could also require the Chiefchief Constableconstable to retire, subject to the Home Secretary's approval.

On 10 July 1964, the Home Secretary, [[Henry Brooke, (politician)Baron Brooke of Cumnor|Henry Brooke]], announced he would be using his powers under the Act to amalgamate the county borough forces of Luton and Northampton with the county forces of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire respectively.

Luton's force had only been formed on 1 April, when it became a county borough, but Mr Brooke said he did not regard the continuance of its existence as in the best interests of policing efficiency.<ref>{{cite news |title=2 boroughs to lose police forces |work=The Times |date=11 July 1964}}</ref> The amalgamations were vigorously, but unsuccessfully, opposed by the boroughs: Luton's campaign went as far as serving a High Court writ on the Home Secretary in an attempt to stop the merger.<ref>{{cite news |title=Luton writ against Home Secretary |work=The Times |date=22 December 1965}}</ref>

In the meantime, the first amalgamation under the Act took place on April 1, April 1965 as the result of local government reorganisation, with the formation of the [[Mid Anglia Constabulary]].

Following a change in government at the [[1964 United Kingdom general election, 1964|general election]], [[Frank Soskice]] became Home Secretary. In 1965 he announced that Exeter City's force would be merged with that of Devon. In addition to the Bedfordshire/Luton, Devon/Exeter, and Northamptonshire/Northampton mergers, 1966 saw the establishment of a new West Midlands Constabulary covering the county boroughs of [[Dudley]], [[Walsall]], [[County Borough of Warley|Warley]], [[West Bromwich]] and [[Wolverhampton]], which had been constituted or enlarged by local government reorganisation.

#Nottinghamshire County Constabulary and [[Nottingham City Police]]

#Portsmouth City Police, Southampton City Police and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary †

*It was also envisaged that the forces of Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, South Shields and Tynemouth would be combined into a single Tyneside force if the recommendations of the [[Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 19671958–1967)|Local Government Commission for England]] were carried into effect.<ref>{{cite news |title=70 police forces to be axed in mergers |work=The Times |date19date=19 May 1966}}</ref>

|[[Sussex Police|Sussex Constabulary]]

|Northumberland Constabulary, [[Newcastle- upon- Tyne CityBorough Police]], [[Tynemouth Borough Police]]

*County Constabulariesconstabularies: Hertfordshire, Surrey, Wiltshire

*Combined Constabulariesconstabularies: Gloucestershire, Kent

*Borough/City forces: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds

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