West Yorkshire Police

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West Yorkshire Police
Coverage
West Yorkshire Police area
Area	West Yorkshire
Size	2,029 km²
Population	2,108,000
Operations
Formed	1974 (merger)
HQ	Wakefield
Budget	{{{budget}}}
Officers	5,671
Divisions	8
Stations	41
Chief Constable	Sir Norman Bettison
Website	West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police is the Home Office police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers.

West Yorkshire Police Authority contains 9 councillors, 3 magistrates and 5 independent members. The councillors are appointed by the five borough councils in the area - Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.

West Yorkshire Police was formed in 1974, when part of the West Yorkshire Constabulary (itself created in 1968, and covering a much larger area) was amalgamated with the Leeds City Police and Bradford City Police, under the Local Government Act 1972. The force was originally known as the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police.^[1][2]

Proposals made by the Home Secretary on March 21, 2006 would see the force merge with North Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police to form a strategic police force for the entire region. These plans are currently under review and not expected to take place in the foreseeable future.

On 12 December 2006, Sir Norman Bettison was announced as the new Chief Constable, replacing Colin Cramphorn.

West Yorkshire Police is reported to have had £6.3 million GBP invested in failed Icelandic financial institutions.

Contents 1 Divisional structure 2 Former Divisions 3 Notable cases 4 See also 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Video clips

[edit] Divisional structure

For operational purposes, West Yorkshire Police is divided into eight divisions. The force headquarters is on Laburnum Road to the north of Wakefield city centre along with the Force Training School at Bishopgarth. The divisions with their associated stations and divisional identifiers are:

Identifier	Division	Stations	Area
AA	North West Leeds	Weetwood, Pudsey, Horsforth & Otley	covering North and West Leeds[3]
BA	North East Leeds	Stainbeck, Killingbeck, Wetherby & Garforth	covering North East Leeds, Wetherby, Boston Spa, Garforth and Micklefield[4]
CA	City & Holbeck	Holbeck, Millgarth & Morley	covering Central and South Leeds[5]
DA	Wakefield	Wakefield, Pontefract, Castleford & South Kirkby	covering the Wakefield Metropolitan District area[6]
EA	Kirklees	Huddersfield, Dewsbury & Holmfirth	covering the Kirklees Metropolitan District area[7]
FA	Calderdale	Halifax & Todmorden	covering the Calderdale Metropolitan District area[8]
GA	Bradford South	Bradford South	covering Central and South Bradford[9]
HA	Airedale & North Bradford	Keighley, Ilkley, Shipley & Eccleshill	covering North Bradford and Keighley[10]

[edit] Former Divisions

The grid below details the make up of the divisions from 2000 to present. Many of the division mergers were implemented to align police divisions with local council wards.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]}

[edit] Notable cases

• The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (1975 to 1981)
• Chapeltown riots (1975, 1981 and 1987)
• Bradford riots (2001)
• Harehills riot (2001)
• The disappearance of Shannon Mathews (2008)

Otley Police Station

Millgarth Police Station in Leeds. The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper was conducted from here.

[edit] See also

• List of police forces in the United Kingdom
• Policing in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• West Yorkshire Police Website
• West Yorkshire Police Neighbourhood Policing Teams Website
• West Yorkshire Police Authority Website
• West Yorkshire Crime Statistics Website

[edit] Video clips

• West Yorkshire Police Video Website
• West Yorkshire YouTube channel

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