Cambridge City Police was the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Cambridge, England, from 1836 to 1965. From its creation until April 1951 it was known as Cambridge Borough Police. It subsequently merged with four other police forces to become what is known today as Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
History The Cambridge Borough Police was established on 21 January 1836 to police within the boundary of the borough, an area much smaller then than it is today. At this time, the force employed just thirty police officers.
Outside the town and borough there were no other police forces in Cambridgeshire until April 1851 when the Cambridgeshire County Constabulary was established, initially employing a total of seventy officers.
In 1951 the Borough of Cambridge was granted city status by HM King George VI. The force title was changed accordingly.
On 31 March 1965, five police forces — Cambridge City Police, Isle of Ely Constabulary, Huntingdonshire Constabulary, Peterborough Combined Police and Cambridgeshire County Constabulary — were united to form the Mid-Anglia Constabulary, headquartered in Brampton. Following alterations to local government boundaries the force name was changed on 31 March 1974 to Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
Force strength The strength of the force was recorded in the annual reports of the inspectors appointed under the County and Borough Police Act 1856 from 1856 until its abolition in 1965 as follows: Before 1856: 23Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1857, p.13. 18561866: 34Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1866, p.15. 18661869: 40 18691870: 41Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1869, p.121. 18701871: 44Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1870, p.13. 18711874: 45Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1871, p.15. 18741880: 48Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1874, p.18. 18801890: 51Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1879, p.22. 18901894: 53Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1890, p.18. 18941900: 55Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1894, p.55. 19001902: 63Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1900, p.15. 19021912: 65 19121934: 87 (this large increase was due to the enlargement of the borough's boundaries)Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1912, p.66. 19341935: 90Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1934, pp.18-19. 19351937: 92Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1935, pp.10-11. 19371939: 110Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1937, pp.20-21. 19391948: 120Reports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1937, pp.234-35. 19481949: 128 of whom six were femaleReports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1948, pp.22-3. 19491950: 129 of whom six were femaleReports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1949, pp.26-7. 19501951: 120 of whom six were femaleReports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1950, pp.24-5. 19511952: 160 of whom six were femaleReports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1951, pp.26-7. 19521961: 161 of whom six were femaleReports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1952, pp.20-1. 19611963: 162 of whom six were femaleReports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1961, pp.208-9. 19631965: 201 of whom eight were femaleReports of HM Inspectors of Constabulary 1963, pp.74-5.
Chief constables 18361842 John Titterton (Superintendent) 18421846 Captain Charles Courant Bailey 18581889: William Garnham Turrall 18891894: Charles Edward Septimus Innes 18941918: Charles Edward Holland 19191944: Robert John Pearson 19441963: Bernard Nicholas Bebbington - appointed Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary 1963. 19631965: Frederick Drayton Porter - also appointed chief constable of Cambridgeshire County Constabulary Became Chief Constable of Mid Anglia Constabulary
See also Policing in the United Kingdom Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service East of England Ambulance Service
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