Nottingham City Police

Last updated July 30, 2024

Nottingham City Police, originally founded as the Borough of Nottingham Police, was a UK police force created under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 in the style of Robert Peel's Metropolitan Police which initially launched in 1836. This initial force failed and was re-founded successfully in 1841. It had responsibility for law enforcement within the geographic area as defined by the boundaries of the city of Nottingham. Under the Police Act 1964 the force was compulsorily amalgamated with Nottinghamshire County Police to form the Nottinghamshire Combined Constabulary, now re-named Nottinghamshire Police.

Founding and early history

The force was founded originally in 1836 with a body of three police officers working days and 12 police officers working evenings. The previously existing system of night watchmen was retained for the hours of darkness.^[1] The force operated under the existing High Constable William Barnes who had held the traditional position of authority in the borough since 1833. The force failed after five years, with internal rivalries between the different shifts and general incompetence on the parts of the watchmen leading to its lack of efficiency.^[2]

Trips by the town's authorities to neighbouring Derby to observe their new police force in action prompted the Nottingham Corporation to disband the force baring the three 'day police' officers. They re-launched a new force in 1841 with 47 officers, including an Inspector and 12 Constables for the day and four Inspectors and 30 Constables for nights. When this force hit the beat they were far more successful.

The force was further reviewed in 1851 and expanded to two Inspectors, five Sergeants and 53 Constables. It would also now have a Superintendent “who shall have no other duties than the management of the Police Force”.^[1] Supt. William Reddish was appointed at a salary of £150 plus house and coal. William Barnes retained his position as High Constable but had no more involvement with running the force. The review also introduced a Criminal Investigation Department to the force for the first time.

List of Chief Constables

List of Chief Constables:^[3]

List of Chief Constables
Name	Dates of holding position	Post title	Notes
William Barnes	1833 1851	High Constable	1833 - traditional pre-existing post 1851 replaced as Chief Officer but retained honourary High Constable title
William Reddish	1851 1854	Superintendent
William Raynor	1854 1860	Superintendent
Joseph Hedington	1860 1869	Chief Constable
Capt F Parry	1869 1872	Chief Constable
Maj. W H Poyntz	1872 1881	Chief Constable
Samuel Stevens	1881 1892	Chief Constable	Previously chief constable of: Chesterfield 1864 - 1868 Derbyshire Constabulary Rochdale 1869 - 1881 South Yorkshire Police
Philip S Clay	1892 1912	Chief Constable	Author of Borough of Nottingham Police Instructions
Thomas Clarke	1912 1920	Chief Constable
Lt Col. Frank Brook DSO, MC	1920 1929	Chief Constable
Capt Athelstan Popkes CBE, OStJ, KPM	1930 1959	Chief Constable
Thomas Moore	1960 1968	Chief Constable

The Popkess Era

Between 1930 - 1959 the Nottingham City Police force was run by Chief Constable Capt Athelstan Popkess. This was a golden age for the force where it achieved national fame as being a pioneer in advancing police technology and being recognised as a national example to follow in many areas.^[4]

Popkess was responsible for introducing a plethora of innovations to the police, including introducing the first police forensic science laboratory in the UK located in Nottingham's Central Police Station. The force also pioneered the use of police radios through the innovative Mechanized Division, as early as 1931 - achieving two-way communications with patrolling police cars several years before any other force.^[5]

During this era the force was famed for having very stringent height requirements significantly above other forces. Two officers PC Geoffrey Baker and PC Dennis 'Tug' Wilson were 'headhunted' specifically based on their height after being spotted by Popkess when they were Grenadier Guards acting as pallbearers at the funeral of King George VI. They stood at 6 foot 8 and 6 foot 8 1/2 respectively.

Amalgamation

On 1 April 1968 as a result of the Police Act 1964 the force was required to amalgamate with the surrounding County police force and the forces took the name Nottinghamshire Combined Constabulary. This later changed to Nottinghamshire Constabulary and then Nottinghamshire Police.

Related Research Articles

The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin in British-controlled Ireland from 1836 to 1922 and then the Irish Free State until 1925, when it was absorbed into the new state's Garda Síochána.

Police ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships in police organisations. The rank system defines authority and responsibility in a police organisation, and affects the culture within the police force. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms.

Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the five unitary authority areas of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, all in South West England.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the local territorial police force that covers the county of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough unitary authority. It provides law enforcement and security for an area of 1,311 square miles (3,400 km²) and population of 856,000 people, in a predominantly rural county. The force of Cambridgeshire includes the cities of Cambridge, Ely and Peterborough, the market towns of Chatteris, Huntingdon, March, Ramsey, St Ives, St Neots, Whittlesey, and town and Port of Wisbech. Its emblem is a crowned Brunswick star containing the heraldic badge of Cambridgeshire County Council.

Norfolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Norfolk in East Anglia, England. The force serves a population of 908,000 in a mostly rural area of 2,079 square miles (5,380 km²), including 90 miles (140 km) of coastline and 16 rivers, including the Broads National Park. Headquartered in Wymondham, Norfolk is responsible for the City of Norwich, along with King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth and Thetford. As of March 2023, the force has a strength of 1,897 police officers, 163 special constables, 1,318 police staff/designated officers, and 103 police support volunteers. The Chief Constable is Paul Sanford, and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is Sarah Taylor (Labour).

The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police covering the city and royal burgh of Glasgow, from 1800 to 1893, and the county of city of Glasgow, from 1893 to 1975. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to hire watchmen to guard the streets at night, augmenting a force of unpaid citizen constables. On 30 June 1800 the authorities of Glasgow successfully petitioned the British Government to pass the Glasgow Police Act 1800 establishing the City of Glasgow Police. It served Glasgow from 1800 to 1975, when it was amalgamated into Strathclyde Police.

Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the council areas of County Durham and Darlington in North East England. It does not cover all of the ceremonial or historic area of Durham, parts of which are covered by the neighbouring forces of Cleveland Police and Northumbria Police. The other neighbouring forces are Cumbria Constabulary to the west and North Yorkshire Police to the south.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.

Sussex Police are the territorial police force responsible for policing in the whole of Sussex. Their jurisdiction covers the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex. Their headquarters are in Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex.

Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million.

Wiltshire Police, formerly known as Wiltshire Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Wiltshire in South West England.

The Police Act 1964 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that updated the legislation governing police forces in England and Wales, constituted new police authorities, gave the Home Secretary new powers to supervise local constabularies, and allowed for the amalgamation of existing forces into more efficient units.

Head constable was a rank used in some British and British colonial police forces, and is still used in the Indian police.

The history of law enforcement in the United Kingdom charts the development of law enforcement in the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It spans the period from the Middle Ages, through to the development of the first modern police force in the world in the nineteenth century, and the subsequent modernisation of policing in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

In police terminology, a beat is the territory that a police officer is assigned to patrol. Beats are used to effectively divide available officers across a law enforcement agency's jurisdiction, ensuring organized police presence across a wide area.

Captain Athelstan Horn Popkess was Chief Constable of Nottingham City Police from 1930 to 1959 and as a result of his transformations in modernising policing could be considered the twentieth century's greatest police officer in the UK according to a 2020 biography. He achieved particular notoriety following an investigation into corruption in Nottingham City Council in an incident which became known as "The Popkess Affair" due to the false suspicion that he had leaked information.

Penzance Borough Police was the police force for the borough and corporate town of Penzance, Cornwall, from 1836 to 1947. It was formed following the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which reformed all UK boroughs, and stipulated that each appoint a Watch Committee to oversee a police force. The police force formed part of the commonality of the town's government, led by an elected Mayor, six aldermen and eighteen councillors.

Frederick George Beale was a British police officer and Chief Constable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truro City Police</span> Historic police force in England

Truro City Police, known as Truro Borough Police until 1877, was the police force for the corporate town of Truro, Cornwall, from 1836 to 1921. It was established under the terms of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 which required every town to appoint a council and a Police Watch Committee, which was responsible for overseeing a police force.

References

1 2 Ilife (1) and Bagguley (2), Richard (1) and Wilfred (2) (1979). Victorian Nottingham: A Story in Pictures Vol. 19 – Police, Courts and Prisons. Nottingham Historical Film Unit.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ Andrews, Tom (2021). "The Founding of Nottingham's New Police". Journal of the Police History Society. 35.
↑ Stallion (1) and Wall (2), Martin (1) and David S (2) (2011). The British Police: Forces and Chief Officers 1829 – 2012. Bodmin: The Police History Society. ISBN 0951253867.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ Hyndman, David. Nottingham City Police: A Pictorial History, 1930 to 1960. Newark: Davage Printing Ltd.
↑ Andrews, Tom (2020). THE GREATEST POLICEMAN? A BIOGRAPHY OF CAPT. ATHELSTAN POPKESS CBE, OStJ Chief Constable of Nottingham City Police 1930-1959. London: Blue Lamp Books.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:0-1] 1 2 Ilife (1) and Bagguley (2), Richard (1) and Wilfred (2) (1979). Victorian Nottingham: A Story in Pictures Vol. 19 – Police, Courts and Prisons. Nottingham Historical Film Unit.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[2] Andrews, Tom (2021). "The Founding of Nottingham's New Police". Journal of the Police History Society. 35.

[3] Stallion (1) and Wall (2), Martin (1) and David S (2) (2011). The British Police: Forces and Chief Officers 1829 – 2012. Bodmin: The Police History Society. ISBN 0951253867.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[4] Hyndman, David. Nottingham City Police: A Pictorial History, 1930 to 1960. Newark: Davage Printing Ltd.

[5] Andrews, Tom (2020). THE GREATEST POLICEMAN? A BIOGRAPHY OF CAPT. ATHELSTAN POPKESS CBE, OStJ Chief Constable of Nottingham City Police 1930-1959. London: Blue Lamp Books.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]