Surrey Police

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**Surrey Police**
Coverage
Surrey Police area
Area	Surrey
Size	1,663 km²
Population	1,067,200
Operations
Formed	1 January 1851
HQ	Mount Browne, Guildford
Officers	1,921
Divisions	4
Stations	12
Chief Constable	Bob Quick

Website	http://www.surrey.police.uk/

Surrey Police is the Home Office police force the county of Surrey in the south of England

The force is lead by Chief Constable Bob Quick and has its headquarters at Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey.

1 History
2 Today
- 2.1 Complaints
3 Surrey Police Museum
4 Training of New Recruits
5 Proposed Merger with Sussex Police
6 Stations with Borough Divisions
7 See also
- 7.1 Other Surrey Emergency Services
8 External links

[edit] History

On January 1, 1851, the Surrey Constabulary began its policing of the county with a total of 70 officers, the youngest of whom was 14 years old. The first Chief Constable was H. C. Hastings, who served in this capacity for 48 years. Originally Guildford, Reigate and Godalming had separate borough police forces. Reigate and Guildford were merged into Surrey in 1943, during the Second World War.

[edit] Today

Part of the present force area was originally part of the Metropolitan Police District, and was only transferred to the control of Surrey Police from the Metropolitan Police in 2000. Surrey Police is now divided into four divisions, and is currently policed by 1,921 police officers (see table below for more information). Surrey Police has one of the lowest crime rates in England and Wales.

*Surrey Police employee numbers for last year and current year* [1]
	2005/06	2006/07
Police officers	1,944	1,921
Community support officers	104	185
Staff	1,447	1,665
Special constables	350	350

[edit] Complaints

There were 439 complaint cases for Surrey Police in 2004/05. This is an 89% increase on the 2003/04 figure of 232. For comparison, the average increase across forces in England and Wales over the same period was 44%.

[edit] Surrey Police Museum

To help celebrate its 150th anniversary, a museum portraying the history of the Force was opened at Mount Browne, the Surrey Police's headquarters in Guildford. Surrey resident Sir Michael Caine, CBE, took a break from filming his latest movie to officially open the doors to the museum on 22nd October, 2001. Months of hard work went into the development of the museum. Displays include a reconstructed lock-up (an old-fashioned holding cell for drunks and criminals), an audio representation of the policing of the Guildford riots and World War I, artefacts and touch-screen technology, all tracing the history of the Force up to the present day.

[edit] Training of New Recruits

Surrey Police is also one of the first police forces to have initiated IPLDP (Initial Police Learning and Development Program). These police forces in the UK are now responsible for training their own recruits. In April 2006, Surrey Police officially launched IPLDP attended by other UK police force representatives.

New recruits are trained at the Surrey Police Headquarters, Mount Browne. Training lasts around 7 months. Recruits receive their Warrant Card and Uniform in the 1st week of training. Towards the end of the course they are trained specifically in the stream to which they have applied, ie Criminal Investigation Department, Response, or Community Policing.

Once the six months training is over, the new officers are posted in a local division. They are on probation for 2 years, and part of the continuing training programme involves a National Vocational Qualification in Policing.

[edit] Proposed Merger with Sussex Police

Under controversial merger plans announced by the Home Secretary in 2006, the number of police forces in England and Wales would have been cut from 43 to 24. Proposals put forward on March 20, 2006 would have seen the Surrey force merged with Sussex Police to form a single strategic police force for the area. [2]

Police authorities had until April 7, 2006 to respond to the plans; the Home Secretary then announced on Tuesday April 11 2006 that Surrey Police and Sussex Police would merge by 2008. However, on Wednesday July 12 2006, a Government minister announced that all proposed police merger plans in England and Wales had been put on "long-term hold."