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The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and the use of force legitimized by the state via the monopoly on violence. The term is most commonly associated with the police forces of a sovereign state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Police forces are often defined as being separate from the military and other organizations involved in the defense of the state against foreign aggressors; however, gendarmerie are military units charged with civil policing. Police forces are usually public sector services, funded through taxes.
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) following the partition of Ireland. At its peak the force had around 8,500 officers with a further 4,500 who were members of the RUC Reserve.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the federal and national police service of Canada, providing law enforcement at the federal level. The RCMP also provides provincial policing in eight of Canada's provinces and local policing on a contract basis in the three territories and more than 150 municipalities, 600 Indigenous communities, and three international airports. The RCMP does not provide active provincial or municipal policing in Ontario or Quebec. However, all members of the RCMP have jurisdiction as a peace officer in all parts of Canada, including Ontario and Quebec. Despite the name, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is no longer an actual mounted police force, with horses only being used at ceremonial events.
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.
The George Cross (GC) is the second highest award of the United Kingdom honours system awarded "for acts of the greatest heroism or for most conspicuous courage in circumstance of extreme danger", not in the presence of the enemy, to members of the British armed forces and to British civilians. Posthumous awards have been allowed since it was instituted. It was previously awarded to residents of Commonwealth countries, most of which have since established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians including police, emergency services and merchant seamen. Many of the awards have been personally presented by the British monarch to recipients or, in the case of posthumous awards, to next of kin. These investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace.
The New Zealand Police is the national police service of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, and maintaining order. With about 12,000 personnel it is the largest law enforcement agency in New Zealand and, with few exceptions, has primary jurisdiction over the majority of New Zealand criminal law. The New Zealand Police also has responsibility for traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement as well as other key responsibilities including protection of dignitaries, firearms licensing and matters of national security.
The New South Wales Police Force is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is a servant of the Crown, independent of Government, although a minister of the Crown has administration. Divided into Police Area Commands (PACs), for metropolitan areas of NSW and Police Districts (PDs), for regional and country areas of NSW, the NSW Police Force consists of more than 500 local police stations and covers an area of 801,600 square kilometres in a state of some eight million people.
Michael Kenneth Pratt GC is a former constable of the Victoria Police Force of Melbourne, Australia, and a recipient of the George Cross, gazetted on 4 July 1978.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve". The headquarters of the Queensland Police Service is located at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Chief Superintendent James Wallace Beaton, GC, CVO is a retired British police officer who was awarded the George Cross, Britain's highest gallantry award for civilians. He was Queen's Police Officer from 1983 to 1992.
Kent Police is the territorial police force for Kent in south east England in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1857 it is one of the oldest and largest police forces in the country with just over four thousand sworn police officers serving an area of 1,433 square miles and a population of over 1.8 million.
Kenneth Farrow GC was an English Police officer and recipient of the Albert Medal, one of the highest medals for civilian gallantry in the United Kingdom, which was later exchanged for the George Cross.
The Sri Lanka Police is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force has a manpower of approximately 77,000, and is responsible for enforcing criminal- and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout Sri Lanka. The professional head of the police is the Inspector General of Police who reports to the Minister of Law and Order as well as the National Police Commission. The current Inspector General of Police is Pujith Jayasundara.
Eric George Bailey GC was a sergeant with the New South Wales Police Force and a posthumous Australian recipient of the George Cross, the highest civil decoration for heroism in the United Kingdom and formerly in the Commonwealth.
Carl Walker, GC is an English former police inspector who served in the Lancashire Constabulary until 1982 when he was forced to retire due to injuries sustained in a shooting in Blackpool, an incident after which he was awarded the George Cross.
Frederick William 'Fred' Fairfax GC was a British policeman awarded the George Cross for his heroism in chasing the armed robbers Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig. The pair had broken into a warehouse in Croydon and were pursued by Fairfax onto the roof of the building. The police officer grabbed Bentley, when Craig shot him, grazing his shoulder. Despite his injury, the unarmed Fairfax chased Bentley and managed to arrest and subdue him. More officers arrived at the scene and Constable Sidney Miles scaled the roof, only to be shot dead by Craig, who then jumped from the roof after expending his ammunition, injured himself upon landing, and was arrested. The award of the medal was announced in the London Gazette of the 6 January 1953, as were the George Medals awarded to Police Constables Norman Harrison and James McDonald. Police Constable Robert Jaggs was given the British Empire Medal and Police Constable Miles was posthumously awarded the Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry.
Henry William Stevens GC was awarded the George Cross for the gallantry he showed while serving as a constable in the Metropolitan Police on 29 March 1958.
A special constable or special police constable is generally an auxiliary or part-time law enforcement officer.
DC Stephen Robin Oake, QGM, was a police officer serving as an anti-terrorism detective with Greater Manchester Police in the United Kingdom who was murdered while attempting to arrest a suspected terrorist in Manchester on 14 January 2003.
References
- 1 2 "George Cross Database". Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
- ↑ Ashcroft, Michael (2010). "George Cross Heroes". Discovery Channel.Missing or empty
|url=(help) - ↑ "No. 44316". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 May 1967. pp. 5727–5728.
- Tony Gledhill GC (2006). A Gun to my Head. Historic Military Press.
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