Hertfordshire Constabulary

The Constabulary was founded in 1841, under the County Police Act, five years after the Hertford Borough Police and St Albans Borough Police had been formed. In 1889, the Hertford Borough Police force was merged into Hertfordshire.

The first Constables were working-class men and were paid at the level of an agricultural labourer. In Victorian times, officers were entitled to only one rest day in every four to six weeks and were entitled to only one week's unpaid annual leave a year. A ten-hour working day was the norm and no meal breaks were allowed. There were strict constraints on an officer's private life too. For example, officers reportedly could not leave their homes without permission and could only go out with their wives so long as they were not absent for more than two hours and someone was home to take messages.[6]

St Albans Constabulary remained independent until 1947, then being absorbed into the Hertfordshire Constabulary. Finally, it was in 2000 that the current force boundaries came into place with the addition of Hertsmere and Broxbourne, transferred from the Metropolitan Police.[7][8]

In 2006 proposals were made by Charles Clarke, the then Home Secretary, that would see the force merge with neighbour forces Bedfordshire Police and Essex Police to form a new strategic police force.[9] However, in July 2006, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair signalled that police force mergers would not be forced through by the central government.[10] However, with the economic recession beginning in 2008 the force began working on collaboration with neighbouring forces. First joining with Bedfordshire Police and then Cambridgeshire Constabulary in a Strategic Alliance, the three forces formed joint units in Counter Terrorism, Major Crime, Dogs, Firearms, SOCO, Roads Policing, Operation Planning, Civil Contingencies, ICT and Professional Standards. Working collaboratively in this way protected local policing by local officers, but enabled specialist units to work across, and be paid for by, all three forces.

Further collaborative work is underway with call handling, control and dispatch, human resources and some 'back-office' functions being examined for merging.[11] For the foreseeable future, the Constabulary looks likely to remain an independent force. Ultimately, the decision for any full merger of the three forces will be in the hands of the Police and Crime Commissioners, and thereby in turn, the public themselves.

Notable major incidents and investigations in which Hertfordshire Constabulary have directed or been involved include:

• October 2000: Hatfield rail crash: A railway accident that caused 4 deaths and over 70 injuries. The accident exposed major stewardship shortcomings and regulatory oversight failings of Railtrack and ultimately triggered its partial re-nationalisation.
• May 2002: Potters Bar Railway Crash: A railway accident that occurred when a train derailed at high speed, killing 7 and injuring 76. Part of the train ended up wedged between the station platforms and building structures.
• December 2005: The Buncefield fire: A major fire caused by a series of explosions at the Buncefield oil storage facility causing 45 injuries. It was the largest peacetime explosion since the Second World War and the plume of smoke could be seen from space.
• March 2009: Murder of Jeffrey Howe: Also known as the Jigsaw Murder.
• July 2011: Typing error causes false accusation of paedophilia: In April 2014 Hertfordshire Constabulary acknowledged that three years before while investigating distribution of more than 100 indecent images of children their mistyping of an IP address had led to arrest and charges against the wrong person, the male partner of a woman to whom the mistyped IP address happened to be allocated. In October 2016 Hertfordshire Constabulary settled out of court paying damages and legal costs.[12]
• May 2012: Rothamsted Research protests: Approximately 200 protesters attempted to occupy an agricultural research centre that was conducting tests on genetically modified wheat.
• July–August 2012: 2012 Summer Olympics: The Lee Valley White Water Centre, in Waltham Cross hosted the canoe slalom events of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Hertfordshire Constabulary deployed significant resources in support of the security of the White Water Centre, and supplied officers on mutual aid to the locations in London.
• June 2013: Bilderberg meeting: Hertfordshire Constabulary deployed large numbers of resources, including officers from other forces on mutual aid, in an operation around the Bilderberg Group meeting at The Grove Hotel, Watford.

• 1841–1880 : Archibald Robertson[13]
• 1880–1910 : H. Smith Daniell[13]
• 1910–1928 : Alfred Letchworth Law[13]
• 1928–1939 : George Thomas Knight[13]
• 1939–1943 : Sydney Ewart Fairman[13]
• 1943–1945 : Abel Camp[13]
• 1945–1947 : Arthur Edwin Young[13]
• 1947–1969 : Albert Frederick Wilcox[13]
• 1969–1977 : Raymond N. Buxton[13]
• 1977–1984 : Adrian Clissitt[13]
• 1984–1990 : Trefor A. Morris[13]
• 1990–1994 : Baden (Bill) Henry Skitt[13]
• 1994–2000 : Peter S. Sharpe [13]
• 2000–2004 : Paul Acres [13]
• 2004–2011 : Frank Whiteley[14]
• 2011–2016: Andy Bliss[13]
• 2016– : Charlie Hall

The Police Memorial Trust lists and commemorates all British police officers killed in the line of duty and erects memorials to some of those officers. Since 1950, the following officers of Hertfordshire Constabulary are listed by the Trust as having been killed in the line of duty:[15]

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• Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner

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