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 (to 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.
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 current 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.
The media have called the force's judgement into question over a number of incidents involving the sexual abuse of minors in Rotherham, where prosecutions were not undertaken.
Read more about this topic: South Yorkshire Police
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