Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex in the east of England.
It is one of the largest non-metropolitan police forces in the United Kingdom, employing approximately 3,600 police officers and operating across an area of over 1,400 square miles (3,600 km2) and with a population of around 1.6 million people.
The Chief Constable is Jim Barker-McCardle since September 2009.
Assistant Chief Constable for Media Relations Gary Beautridge is also simultaneously ACC for Area Operations for Kent Police due to the two forces forming a joint Serious Crime Directorate.
In November 2012, the first ever Police and Crime Commissioner elections took place, in which Conservative candidate Nick Alston achieved 30.5% of the first round votes, and 51.5% of the second round votes against Independent candidate Mick Thwaites. Alston set his 4 priorities in his election statement as 1) policing that meets local needs, 2) policing that is prompt and professional, 3) effective cooperation and partnership between Police, Councils and the Voluntary Sector, and 4) to be an influential voice in leading public engagement about crime reduction and policing, and to listen to and speak for the victims of crime.
Nick Alston was elected with a tiny 12.8% turnout.
Read more about Essex Police: History, Organisation, Officers Killed in The Line of Duty
Famous quotes containing the words essex and/or police:
“The unknown always seems unbelievable, Lucas.”
—Harry Essex (b. 1910)
“I’ve met a lot of murderers in my day, but Dr. Garth, whatever he is, is the first man I’ve ever met who was polite to me and still made the chills run up and down my back.”
—Robert D. Andrews, and Nick Grindé. Police detective, Before I Hang, describing his meeting with Dr. Garth (1940)