Dorset Police
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dorset Police | |
 |
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| Coverage | |
|---|---|
 Dorset Police area |
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| Area | Dorset |
| Size | 1,024 square miles |
| Population | 687,000 |
| Operations | |
| Formed | 1974 |
| HQ | Winfrith |
| Budget | {{{budget}}} |
| Officers | 1502 |
| Divisions | 4 |
| Stations | 24 |
| Chief Constable | Martin Baker |
| Website | Dorset Police |
Dorset Police is the Home Office police force with the responsibility of policing the English county of Dorset.
As of appoximately July 2007 the force had an establishment of 1502 police officers, 250 Special Constables 1133 civilian staff, 83 Volunteers and 162 Police Community Support Officers.
51% of Dorset's 687,000 Population reside in 5% of the area, which is the conurbations of Poole and Bournemouth. Within the tourist season this number rises by another 300,000.
As of April 2008, the force is divided into two Divisions: Conurbation Division (consisting of the borough's of Bournemouth and Poole) and Rural Division (consisting of the rest of Dorset, stretching from Lyme Regis in the west, to Verwood in the north and Highcliffe in the east of the county). This restructuring is in line with force policy of recreating a "Neighbourhood led police force".
The Chief Constable is Martin Baker.
In a typical day Dorset Police face (based on December 2006 figures):
- 533 calls for assistance from the public
- 260 - 999 calls
- 56 cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service
- 172 Crimes Recorded
- 46 Crimes Detected
- 101 Anti-social behaviour incidents recorded
- 33 people arrested for notifiable offences
- 20 People and Vehicle searches
- 3 Drug offence arrests
- 19 Road traffic collisions attended
- 23 breath tests administered
- 17,516 miles travelled in Police vehicles
The force took its present form on 1 April 1974 when, under the Local Government Act 1972, the previous Dorset and Bournemouth Constabulary took in areas previously covered by Hampshire Constabulary (that is, Christchurch and hinterland). The establishment of the Dorset and Bournemouth police dates from 1 October 1967 when the Dorset Constabulary merged with the Bournemouth Borough Police covering the borough of Bournemouth, which was itself until 1974 part of Hampshire.
