Brighton and Hove, a city and unitary authority in the English county of East Sussex, has a wide range of public services funded by national government, East Sussex County Council, Brighton and Hove City Council and other public-sector bodies. Revenue to fund these services comes partly from Council Tax, which is paid annually by residents: this tax provides the city council with nearly 20% of its income and also helps to fund the local police force, Sussex Police, and the county's fire service, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Some of Brighton and Hove's utilities and infrastructure are provided by outside parties, such as utility companies, rather than by the city council.

The city is made up of the previously separate towns and boroughs of Hove and Brighton, which had themselves absorbed other villages such as Aldrington, Portslade and Patcham at various times. Many of the city's public services have their origins in companies or entities formed in the 19th century, privately or by the councils of the formerly separate towns. For example, the first gas provider was formed in 1818 to provide a gas supply to the parish of Brighton; private electricity companies were set up in Brighton in the 1880s and Hove a decade later; numerous hospitals and healthcare facilities were established throughout the 19th century, starting with the Brighthelmston Dispensary in 1810; and police forces and fire brigades were formed in Brighton, Hove and Portslade. In many cases these were amalgamated into larger entities as the towns grew in the 19th and 20th centuries. Many public services buildings were rebuilt in the postwar era, including Brighton's central police station, the courthouses in Hove and Brighton and the local telephone exchanges.

Police

The city of Brighton and Hove, along with the counties of East Sussex and West Sussex, is policed by Sussex Police, one of England's territorial police forces. The force has its headquarters in Lewes. Sussex Police is divided into three divisions, one of which covers Brighton and Hove; it is led by a chief superintendent.

For centuries Brighton had no formal local governance, and the administration of legal matters took place outside the town. Until 1773, the civic and legal affairs of Brighthelmstone (as it was then), and all activities which would now be covered by the police and courts, were administered by a small group of people self-selected from the "ancientest, gravest and wisest inhabitants". The "Society of Twelve" or "Fellowship of Twelve" consisted of eight fishermen and four landsmen (agricultural workers), reflecting the importance of those occupations. Each year these men would elect from their number one Head Constable and two Headboroughs to uphold law and order in the town. From the late 17th century these roles were elected by a jury of residents selected by the Marquess of Abergavenny in his role as Lord of the Manor of Whalesbone. Other municipal offices in Brighthelmstone's early history included the Beadle, a town crier described by local historian Antony Dale as "in cocked hat and full regalia"; overseers and collectors of the Poor rate; and two nightwatchmen who patrolled the town and who were nicknamed "Old Charlies" by residents.

A more formal system was put in place after the passing of the Brighthelmstone Improvement Act 1810 (50 Geo. 3. c. xxxviii). The newly appointed Brighton Commissioners, forerunners of the borough council (and therefore of the present city council), were given the power to appoint nightwatchmen. By 1815 there were 16, and by 1823 they were based at the original town hall under two superintendents. Full-time professional police officers were first appointed in 1838, replacing this system. The force consisted of Chief Constable Henry Solomon (murdered in 1844), two superintendents, three police inspectors and 24 ordinary officers. In 1854, when Brighton Borough Council was formed, the force (now numbering 61 men) came under its control. Numbers of officers increased steadily, and new roles were created: the first plain-clothes officer was appointed in 1854, along with a police surgeon, and female officers first joined the force in 1918. By 1967, the last year of the council's control prior to the formation of Sussex Police, there were 424 officers. In September 1933 radio handsets were issued to officers; the force was the first in the country to be equipped with a method of wireless communication.

The central police station was based at the new (1832) town hall until the present station was built on John Street in the Carlton Hill area of Brighton in 1965 to the design of Borough Architect Percy Billington. District police stations, which were abolished in 1928, existed at various times in Kemptown (St James's Street; later Freshfield Road), West Hill, Preston Circus, Patcham, Preston village, Rottingdean, Black Rock and at The Level. A short-lived secondary police station, originally a police training school, operated between 1949 and 1965 in the Elm Grove area. As well as the central police station on John Street, there is now also one on Crowhurst Road in the Hollingbury area. (Search using "Brighton") Brighton Borough Police became part of the new Sussex Constabulary (now Sussex Police) in 1968 when it combined with East Sussex Constabulary, West Sussex Constabulary, Eastbourne Borough Police and Hastings Borough Police.

The first police in Hove were the Brunswick Square Police Force, established in 1830 by the Brunswick Town Commissioners. The first station was on Brunswick Street West; it later moved to the original Hove town hall on Church Road. Hove Police Commissioners were formed in 1858 to look after policing of the whole town. They appointed 20 men; a further four were employed in 1874 when the Hove Commissioners (forerunners of Hove Borough Council) took over responsibilities, and by 1891 the force numbered 42 men. The amalgamation of Hove and Aldrington in 1893 prompted a further increase in the size of the force. Female officers were employed from 1919, and in 1938 the force numbered 90 men and women. The force was amalgamated with others in East Sussex (excluding Brighton Borough Police) in 1947 to form East Sussex Police. A new police station, incorporating flats for officers and an indoor rifle range, was built on Holland Road in 1964. It was closed in 2013 and converted into a school the following year. There is now a police "contact point" at the new Hove Town Hall on Norton Road.

Portslade had a resident police constable by 1851: he was recorded as lodging in a shepherd's house in that year's census. A police station was built on North Street by 1862 and police officers were then based there. The force was five strong by 1908, when a new police station was provided on St Andrew's Road. Numbers fluctuated between four and seven officers over the next decades. Both police stations survive, although since the formation of Sussex Police neither has been used by the police.

Brighton Parks Police, a separate force dedicated to patrolling parks and open spaces, was formed in 1961 by the Chief Constable of Brighton Borough Police. The roles of park keepers who were previously appointed under the terms of the Brighton Corporation Act 1831 were upgraded; the 14 officers were thereafter known as Park Constables and came under the control of a supervisor and an assistant supervisor. The force lasted until the early 1990s when it was abolished as a cost-cutting measure.

Between 1890 and 1988, when the institution moved to Goring-on-Thames, Berkshire, a convalescent home for police officers was based in Hove. It moved from its original building in Clarendon Villas to "huge red-brick" purpose-built premises on Portland Road in 1892. Police officers came from all over the country as well as from the local area to recover from illness and injuries. The home moved again to Kingsway on the seafront in 1966.

The history of policing in the Brighton area is covered by the Old Police Cells Museum in the basement of Brighton Town Hall.

Courts and legal administration

Until 1808, the Hundred court responsible for enforcing the law and keeping the peace in Brighton was held at Lewes, the county town. From that year, the growing importance of Brighton prompted the establishment of a court (the Court of Whalesbone) at the New Inn (now the Royal Pavilion Tavern) on Castle Square on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Petty sessions were also held at the Old Ship Hotel starting in 1812. The venue alternated between the hotel, Brighton's original town hall and the New Inn until 1832, when the town hall became the court's permanent home. Brighton's court of quarter sessions was established at the town hall on 26 March 1854 and remained there except for a two-year period between 1897 and 1899 when they moved to the old library while the town hall was rebuilt. County court proceedings were held at the town hall from 1847; venues on North Street and Prince's Street were then used temporarily until a new building opened on Church Street in 1869. This two-storey red-brick Tudor/Gothic Revival structure had two courtrooms and remained in use until 1967, when a new £665,000 complex of juvenile, magistrate's, coroner's, county and Crown courts opened on Edward Street. It was designed in a Modernist style by Borough Architect Percy Billington. An extension was built to the rear in 1985, and the entire complex was refitted between 1986 and 1989 (necessitating a temporary move to the former Board of Guardians Parochial Offices on Prince's Street) to provide eight magistrate's courts and three Crown courtrooms (reduced to two before 2007). The old courthouse on Church Street, designed by Charles Sorby, is now Grade II-listed and is now used as a museum and lecture room.

The borough of Hove has had a magistrate's court since February 1904. It was based at the old Hove Town Hall, largely destroyed by fire in 1966. The court temporarily moved into an undamaged section before moving to its new permanent home, known as the Hove Trial Centre, in November 1971. Fitzroy Robinson & Partners designed the Modernist building, which cost approximately £350,000. The three-storey building has four courtrooms, a separate juvenile court and probation offices. The building also became the home of Hove Crown Court from October 1992.

Fire protection East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the city of Brighton and Hove and the rest of East Sussex. It operates 24 fire stations, three of which are in the city: at Hove, Preston Circus and Roedean. All are part of the West Group of fire stations, which cover the city and the adjacent District of Lewes.

Preston Circus Community Fire Station covers central and western parts of Brighton. It has 61 full-time firefighters when fully staffed, and its equipment consists of an Extended Rescue Pump, an Aerial Ladder Platform and a Water Tender Ladder. Roedean Community Fire Station covers eastern Brighton and when fully staffed has a complement of 29 full-time firefighters. It is equipped with an Extended Rescue Pump. Hove Community Fire Station covers the Hove and Portslade areas. When fully resourced it has 53 full-time firefighters. It also has an Extended Rescue Pump and a High Volume Pump.