Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of .
The chief constable is Ben-Julian Harrington, who took up the appointment in October 2018.
Essex and Kent Police share support services, such as administration, fleet and a Serious Crime Directorate (SCD). It's currently led by Assistant Chief Constable Andy Pritchard who works across both force areas. The collaboration between them began in 2007.
Essex Police are overseen by the elected Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Roger Hirst.
History
Essex Constabulary was formed in 1840. In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,862 officers.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Police was established by the county borough of Southend-on-Sea, England, in 1914. In 1969, Southend-on-Sea Borough Police amalgamated with Essex Constabulary to become the Essex and Southend-on-Sea Joint Constabulary. This merger was campaigned against by the council and the local MPs. Colchester also at one time had its own police force.
The title was shortened to Essex Police in 1974. In April 2000, it took over parts of the county in the south-west (Loughton, Waltham Abbey, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill) formerly in the Metropolitan Police Area.
Epping Forest Keepers act as Epping Forest constables in the Forest parishes in the south-west of the Essex Police area; they have different powers from those of the Essex Police.
Chief constables
Chief constables of Essex have been: Essex Constabulary (1840) 1840–1881 : John Bunch Bonnemaison McHardy 1881–1887 : William Henry Poyntz 1888–1915 : Edward McLean Showers 1915–1932 : John Alfred Unett 1933–1962 : (Sir) Francis Jonathan Peel 1962–1978 : Sir John Cyprian Nightingale (knighted in 1975 New Year Honours) Essex Police (1974) 1978–1987 : (Sir) Robert Sidney Bunyard 1988–1998 : John Halcrow Burrow 1998–2005 : David Frederick Stevens 2005–2009 : Roger Baker 2009–2013 : Jim Barker-McCardle 2013–2018 : Stephen Kavanagh 2018–present : Ben-Julian Harrington
Officers killed in the line of duty
The Police Roll of Honour Trust and Police Memorial Trust list and commemorate all British police officers killed in the line of duty. Since its establishment in 1984, the Police Memorial Trust has erected 50 memorials nationally to some of those officers.
Since 1849, the following officers of Essex Police were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress: Constable Ian Dibell, 2012 Constable Gary John Veal, 2002 Constable Roderick Norton Daniels, 2001 Constable Christopher John Wiggins, 1992 Acting Sergeant Brian John Bishop, 1984 Constable Peter James Wringe, 1982 Constable Brian Arthur Rippingale, 1968 Sergeant Edmund Sleigh Frost, 1948 Constable George William Gutteridge, 1927 Constable Joseph Watt, 1913 Acting Sergeant Adam John Eves, 1893 Inspector Thomas Simmons, 1885 Constable Robert Bamborough, 1850 Head Constable William Campling, 1849
Organisation
Essex Police is one of the United Kingdom's largest non-metropolitan police forces with a strength of over 4000 sworn police officers.
Its headquarters, the Force Control Room (FCR) (where emergency calls are routed to) and Essex Police College, are both located in Chelmsford.
Strategically, Essex is an important force. Bordering London, the force area consists of affluent city suburbs, large urban areas, industrial centres, rural villages, London Stansted Airport (one of the busiest international airports in the country) and two of the UK's major ports (Harwich and Tilbury). The force also polices one of the largest expanses of coastline of any force in the UK. The police area covers and has a population of around 1,800,000.
The Chief Constable is Ben-Julian Harrington who replaced Stephen Kavanagh after he retired in October 2018.
The force has been a regular innovator and is often used by the Home Office to trial new procedures and equipment, including automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), Lantern (handheld wireless fingerprint verification) and the X26 Taser.