Areas Covered (Divisions)
Until November 2011 the force was formed into six BCU's, as shown below:
- North Kent (Dartford, Gravesend)
- South Kent (Folkestone, Dover, Ashford)
- East Kent (Canterbury, Herne Bay, Whitstable, Thanet)
- West Kent (Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Cranbrook, Sevenoaks, Swanley)
- Mid Kent (Maidstone, Sheppey, Sittingbourne, Faversham)
- Medway (Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham
Plans to reduce the six BCU's to three divisions were drawn up in 2010 The new force Divisions came into being when the existing BCU's were formally dissolved in November 2011, they are structured as follows:
- North Kent & Medway Division (Dartford, Gravesend, Sheppey, Sittingbourne, Faversham and Medway)
- East Kent Division (Canterbury, Herne Bay, Whitstable, Thanet, Folkestone, Dover, Deal, Ashford)
- West Kent Division (Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Cranbrook, Sevenoaks, Swanley)
Neighbourhood policing will be carried out at a district level with an extra 400 officers transferred into it. Crime investigation and emergency response will be managed at a central level from the Force Command and Communication Centre. Specialist functions will remain centrally managed.
Tazers were introduced to Kent police in 2009 for rank and file officers, although only Response vehicle drivers were issued with them. Each Response vehicle had to be double crewed with both crew members carrying Tazer due to the safety implications, and to allow proper care and control of a Tazed individual.
On April 6, 2011 it was announced that the 3 new areas will each be commanded by a Chief Superintendent and Superintendent. Each individual town within each area will be commanded by a Chief Inspector. There are up to 400 extra officers on neighbourhood patrols now with all emergency response handled from HQ in Maidstone. All response officers will be Standard and Advanced level.
Read more about this topic: Kent Police
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