Newham Community Constabulary, formerly called Newham Parks Constabulary, was a very small non-Home Office constabulary responsible for patrolling the 52 parks and open spaces covering 1.63 square miles in the London Borough of Newham.
The Home Office (HO) is a ministerial department of Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for immigration, security and law and order. As such it is responsible for policing in England and Wales, fire and rescue services in England, and visas and immigration and the Security Service (MI5). It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism and ID cards. It was formerly responsible for Her Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service, but these have been transferred to the Ministry of Justice. The Cabinet minister responsible for the department is the Home Secretary.
Constabulary may have several definitions:
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the former Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, within east London, the name being a portmanteau word reflecting its creation while combining the compass points of the old borough names.
Newham Parks Constabulary was established in 1998, with thirteen constables headed by a Senior Parks Constable. In 2001, following the departure of the Senior Constable, the new grade of Sergeant was created and three constables promoted to it. In 2004 the service was reformed by the Newham Council, headed by Sir Robin Wales in the newly created office of directly elected mayor. The service was renamed the Newham Community Constabulary and an Inspector was appointed to head the service. In July 2009 the Constabulary was disbanded. [1]
Sergeant is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternate spelling, "serjeant", is used in The Rifles and other units that draw their heritage from the British Light Infantry. Its origin is the Latin "serviens", "one who serves", through the French term "sergent".
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.
The service had forty employees: one Inspector, six Sergeants, and thirty three Constables. Members of the constabulary were sworn as constables under section 18, Ministry of Housing and Local Government Provision Order Confirmation (Greater London Parks and Open Spaces) Act 1967. This gave the constables the powers and privileges of a constable to enforce by-laws in relation to parks and open spaces under their control. They had no constabulary powers to enforce criminal law and should not have been be mistaken for police officers. Once they left the clearly identified parks areas, they had no legal powers to enforce by-laws, indeed an official report into their activities concluded that "Even in the parks they cannot arrest for offences under other legislation such as the Theft Act or the Criminal Damage Act – other than as a private citizen." [2]
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other people may be granted powers of a constable without holding this title.
Any serious incidents and crimes in the parks were dealt with by the Metropolitan Police Service.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police and informally as the Met, Scotland Yard or "the Yard", is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the Metropolitan Police District, which currently consists of the 32 London boroughs. The MPD does not include the "square mile" of the City of London, which is policed by the much smaller City of London Police.
Following a number of allegations into corruption, racism and abuse of non-existent police powers the constabulary was subject to an investigation. An official report identified that the use of titles such as sergeant and constable was misleading as members of the service are council workers rather than police officers and it has been recommended that those titles are changed to reflect their actual status and powers. An official report concluded that those responsible for Parks Constables need to be careful that their staff do not describe themselves as police or that any uniform they wear is not so similar to that of the Police to cause confusion in the minds of the public. This comment was echoed by Liberty, who felt that the use of police forms by those council employees might cause members of the public to confuse them with police officers. [3]
Liberty, formerly called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which campaigns to challenge injustice, protect civil liberties and promote human rights – through the courts, in Parliament and in the wider community.
