| Chatham Police Station | |
|---|---|
 Chatham Police Station, in April 2014 | |
 Interactive map of Chatham Police Station | |
| Former names | Chatham Division Headquarters |
| General information | |
| Status | Closed |
| Type | Police station |
| Location | The Brook, Chatham, Kent, ME4, England, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°23′04″N0°31′35″E / 51.3845639°N 0.5263568°E |
| Current tenants | None |
| Opened | Early 20th century |
| Closed | Mid-2000s, replaced by Medway Police Station |
| Owner | Kent Police |
| Management | Kent County Constabulary (–1974) Kent Police (1974–closure) |
| Known for | Served Chatham area; former divisional HQ |
Chatham Police Station was a police station of the Kent County Constabulary (later Kent Police) located on The Brook, Chatham, Kent, England. It served the Chatham area (a major naval dockyard and garrison town) throughout much of the 20th century and into the early 2000s. The station is recorded in contemporary accounts as still operational in 2002–2011, but was closed in the mid-2000s after Kent Police consolidated town policing into Medway Police Station, located in Gillingham. Chatham Police Station lay opposite the Medway Magistrates' Court. The Kent Police asset register (2024) still lists "Chatham Police Station, The Brook, Chatham" among its properties but no policing functions occur there today.
The former police station was occupied by Kent County Constabulary as the Chatham Division headquarters and later by Kent Police (the successor force after 1974). Contemporary news reports confirm the station's use in the early 21st century: for example, in 2002 a high-speed motorway chase ended with suspects brought back to this Chatham station for questioning, [1] and in 2004 two individuals were reported to have been held and questioned there in a child-death investigation. [2] After the Medway Police Station opened in Gillingham in March 2007, [3] the Chatham station at The Brook was closed. In the station's later years it came to be referred to as the former Chatham police station. [4] Internally, the station would have contained the typical facilities of a small-town police house: holding cells (lock-ups) for detained persons, interview/desk offices, an "incident room" [5] or briefing area, and accommodation for sergeants or constables on duty. (Later Kent Police reports mention an "incident room" at Chatham in the 1980s case of Dr. Victoria Anyetei.) [6]
Several high-profile events touched Chatham Police Station over the years. In 1905 the famous escapologist Harry Houdini staged a public escape at Barnard's Palace of Varieties in Chatham. Newspaper accounts describe how Houdini was locked up handcuffed in a Chatham jail cell (at a temporary setup for the show) and promptly broke out. Notably, local accounts suggest Chatham police refused to participate in Houdini's demonstration, so police from nearby Rochester handled it instead. [7]
During World War II, Chatham's station played a role in frontline defense. In 1941 a German Messerschmitt crashed on nearby high ground (Luton), and the wounded pilot was reportedly taken under guard by the Home Guard to Chatham Police Station. An angry crowd of local civilians had gathered, but police and guards ensured the pilot's safe custody. (The pilot later returned in 1955 to thank his rescuers.) [8]
In September 2003, Chatham Police Station featured in national news when 46-year-old David Milner was accused of abducting a 14-year-old schoolgirl. [9] Milner was held there after his arrest. [10] Photographs from that case show Milner leaving the station to attend Medway Magistrates' Court. [11]