This is a list of the 45 territorial police forces and 3 special police forces of the United Kingdom. It does not include non-police law enforcement agencies or bodies of constables not constituted as police forces.
For a list of all law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and its territories, see List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.
Force | Area served | Number of police officers | Budget (millions) | Area size (km2) | Formed | Country/ Region | Legal jurisdiction | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Avon and Somerset Police | Unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire | 3,202 [1] | £326.6 [2] | 4,777 | 1974 | South West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Bedfordshire Police | Unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton | 1,396 [1] | £122.5 [2] | 1,024 km2 (395 sq mi) |
1966 | East of England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
British Transport Police | National Rail Network, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, West Midlands Metro, London Trams, Tyne and Wear Metro (part), Glasgow Subway and London Cable car [3] | 2,960 [4] | £319.17 [5] | 200 [6] | 1948 as BTCP | On railway land (and also other areas upon request by another police force, and in certain other circumstances) in England, Wales, and Scotland | Special police force | |
Cambridgeshire Constabulary | County of Cambridgeshire and unitary authority of Peterborough | 1,671 [1] | £156.2 [2] | 3,389 | 1965 | East of England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Cheshire Constabulary | Unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, and Warrington | 2,370 [1] | £208.0 [2] | 2,155 | 1857 | North West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
City of London Police | City of London | 970 [1] | £67.0 [2] | 2.6 | 1839 | Greater London | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Civil Nuclear Constabulary | Civilian nuclear facilities: Dounreay, Torness, Hunterston, Hartlepool, Sellafield, Heysham, Sizewell, Culham, Harwell, Hinkley Point, Dungeness [7] | 1,310 [a] | £116.7 [9] | - | 2005 | Civilian nuclear sites and surrounding lands up to 5 km distant, and any such places as required when escorting nuclear materials in transit or pursuing or detaining suspects in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland | Special police force | |
Cleveland Police | Unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees | 1,443 [1] | £143.5 [2] | 597 | 1974 | North East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Cumbria Constabulary | Unitary authorities of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness | 1,288 [1] | £117.8 | 6,768 | 1974 | North West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Derbyshire Constabulary | County of Derbyshire and unitary authority of Derby | 2,038 [1] | £193.9 [2] | 2,625 | 1967 | East Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Devon and Cornwall Police | County of Devon and unitary authorities of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Plymouth, and Torbay | 3,515 [1] | £338.4 [2] | 10,270 | 1967 | South West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Dorset Police | Unitary authorities of Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 1,380 [1] | £144.3 [2] | 2,653 | 1974 | South West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Durham Constabulary | Unitary authorities of County Durham and Darlington | 1,295 [1] | £133.3 [2] | 2,676 | 1839 | North East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Dyfed-Powys Police | Principal areas of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, and Powys | 1,275 [1] | £115.5 [2] | 10,976 | 1968 | Wales | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Essex Police | County of Essex and unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock | 3,678 [1] | £320.2 [2] | 3,670 | 1969 | East of England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Gloucestershire Constabulary | County of Gloucestershire | 1,279 [1] | £126.9 [2] | 3,150 | 1839 | South West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Greater Manchester Police | Metropolitan county of Greater Manchester | 8,550 [1] | £643.0 [2] | 1,276 | 1974 | North West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Gwent Police | Principal areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, and Torfaen | 1,491 [1] | £142.2 [2] | 1,555 | 1967 | Wales | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary | County of Hampshire and unitary authorities of the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Southampton | 3,302 [1] | £366.4 [2] | 4,149 | 1967 | South East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Hertfordshire Constabulary | County of Hertfordshire | 2,261 [1] | £221.3 [2] | 1,643 | 1841 | East of England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Humberside Police | Unitary authorities of East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North East Lincolnshire, and North Lincolnshire | 2,192 [1] | £200.7 [2] | 3,517 | 1974 | Yorkshire and the Humber | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Kent Police | County of Kent and unitary authority of Medway | 4,064 [1] | £338.4 [2] | 3,736 | 1857 | South East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Lancashire Constabulary | County of Lancashire and unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool | 3,369 [1] | £308.8 [2] | 3,075 | 1839 | North West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Leicestershire Police | County of Leicestershire and unitary authorities of Leicester and Rutland | 2,335 [1] | £204.0 [2] | 2,538 | 1967 | East Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Lincolnshire Police | County of Lincolnshire | 1,182 [1] | £131.6 [2] | 5,921 | 1856 | East Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Merseyside Police | Metropolitan county of Merseyside | 4,093 [1] | £359.7 [2] | 645 | 1974 | North West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Metropolitan Police Service | Metropolitan Police District ( London region excluding the City of London) | 35,052 [1] | £2,939.9 [2] | 1,578 | 1829 | Greater London | England and Wales (includes Scotland and Northern Ireland for officers on close protection duties) | Territorial police force |
Ministry of Defence Police | Critical Defence Sites, Designated Critical National Infrastructure, MOD Headquarters Whitehall, Trident, Atomic Weapons Establishment, GCHQ | 2,594 [b] | £156.6 [11] | - | 1971 | Military buildings, property, and employees (as well as other areas upon request by another police force, and in certain other circumstances), in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland | Special police force | |
Norfolk Constabulary | County of Norfolk | 1,921 [1] | £177.2 [2] | 5,371 | 1839 | East of England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
North Wales Police | Principal areas of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, and Wrexham | 1,652 [1] | £167.1 [2] | 6,172 | 1974 | Wales | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Northamptonshire Police | Unitary authorities of North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire | 1,458 [1] | £146.2 [2] | 2,364 | 1966 | East Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Northumbria Police | Metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and unitary authority of Northumberland | 3,658 [1] | £307.1 [2] | 5,553 | 1974 | North East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
North Yorkshire Police | Unitary authorities of North Yorkshire and the City of York | 1,669 [1] | £166.2 [2] | 8,310 | 1974 | Yorkshire and the Humber | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Nottinghamshire Police | County of Nottinghamshire and unitary authority of Nottingham | 2,401 [1] | £224.8 [2] | 2,160 | 1968 | East Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Police Service of Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland | 6,772 [12] | £1,077.4 [13] | 13,843 | 2001 | Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland | Territorial police force |
Police Scotland | Scotland | 16,570 [14] | £1,064.8 [15] | 78,772 | 2013 | Scotland | Scotland | Territorial police force |
South Wales Police | Principal areas of Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, and the Vale of Glamorgan | 3,397 [1] | £315.8 [2] | 2,074 | 1969 | Wales | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
South Yorkshire Police | Metropolitan county of South Yorkshire | 3,022 [1] | £282.1 [2] | 1,552 | 1974 | Yorkshire and the Humber | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Staffordshire Police | County of Staffordshire and unitary authority of Stoke-on-Trent | 1,913 [1] | £211.1 [2] | 2,713 | 1968 | West Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Suffolk Constabulary | County of Suffolk | 1,387 [1] | £135.1 [2] | 3,801 | 1967 | East of England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Surrey Police | County of Surrey | 2,153 [1] | £249.4 [2] | 1,663 | 1851 | South East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Sussex Police | Non-metropolitan counties of East Sussex and West Sussex and unitary authority of Brighton and Hove | 3,051 [1] | £309.9 [2] | 3,783 | 1968 | South East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Thames Valley Police | Non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire and unitary authorities of Bracknell Forest, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Reading, Slough, Wokingham, West Berkshire, and Windsor and Maidenhead | 4,772 [1] | £456.7 [2] | 5,742 | 1968 | South East England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Warwickshire Police | County of Warwickshire | 1,029 [1] | £109.9 [2] | 1,975 | 1840 | West Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
West Mercia Police | County of Worcestershire and unitary authorities of Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Telford and Wrekin | 2,358 [1] | £236.5 [2] | 7,408 | 1967 | West Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
West Midlands Police | Metropolitan county of the West Midlands | 7,715 [1] | £620.4 [2] | 902 | 1974 | West Midlands | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
West Yorkshire Police | Metropolitan county of West Yorkshire | 5,930 [1] | £485.0 [2] | 2,029 | 1974 | Yorkshire and the Humber | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Wiltshire Police | Unitary authorities of Swindon and Wiltshire | 1,138 [1] | £127.7 [2] | 3,485 | 1839 | South West England | England and Wales | Territorial police force |
Total | — | 174,415 | £15,832 | — | — | — | — |