Accountability
Currently In England and Wales a Police Authority, nine local councillors and eight independent members (one of whom must be a magistrate), is responsible for overseeing each local force. They also have a duty under law to ensure that their community gets best value from their police force.
From 22 November 2012, police authorities outside of London will be replaced with directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners. In London the City of London Police will continue to be overseen by City of London Corporation, whilst the Mayor of London will assume responsibility for the governance for the Metropolitan Police.
In Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
In Scotland, each police force is overseen either by the local authority (for Fife Constabulary and Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary) or by a joint board of the relevant authority for all other forces.
Two of the three special police forces in Great Britain, (the British Transport Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary) had their own police authorities set up in 2004. These forces operate across national jurisdictions but their normal responsibility is to the activities they police, i.e. the railways and the civil nuclear industry.
Read more about this topic: Law Enforcement In The United Kingdom