Bedfordshire Police
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| Bedfordshire Police | |
| Image:EnglandPoliceBedfordshire.png Bedfordshire Police area | |
| Coverage | |
|---|---|
| Area | Bedfordshire and Luton |
| Size | 1,235 |
| Population | 0.6 million |
| Operations | |
| Formed | 1966 (merger) |
| HQ | Kempston |
| Officers | 1,232 |
| Divisions | 2 - Luton and County |
| Stations | 5 |
| Chief Constable | Gillian Parker QPM |
| Website | Bedfordshire Police |
Bedfordshire Police is the Home Office police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, which includes the unitary authority of Luton. Its headquarters are in Kempston. The county had an estimated population of 570,831 in mid 2002, so the force is one of the smaller ones in England.
A professional police force was established in Bedfordshire in 1839, under the County Police Act 1839, replacing the earlier system of elected parish constables. It initially comprised a chief constable, who was based in Ampthill, 6 superintendents and 40 constables. Constables were paid 19 shillings a week, which was nearly twice the typical wage of an agricultural labourer in the county at that time. <ref>History of Bedfordshire 1066-1888 (1969), Joyce Godber.</ref>The force is now divided into three divisions covering North Bedfordshire, Central Bedfordshire (which actually includes the southernmost parts of the county) and Luton.
There was an independent Luton Borough Police from 1876 to 1947, and then from 1964 to 1966. From 1966 to 1974 the force was known as the Bedfordshire and Luton Constabulary.
Proposals made by the Home Secretary on March 20, 2006, would have seen Bedfordshire Police merge with neighbouring forces Hertfordshire Constabulary and Essex Police to form a strategic police force. [1] However in July 2006 Prime Minister Tony Blair signalled that police force mergers will not be forced through by the central government, and given the amount of local opposition to such mergers it is not expected that any voluntary mergers will occur. <ref>Blair accused of wasting police time on mergers, Daily Telegraph, 13 July 2006.</ref>
The force was involved in a controversial incident in May 2006 in which it emerged that officers were offering "treats" to convicted prisoners in order that they might admit to crimes they could not possibly have committed. [2]
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