Wandsworth Parks Police
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Wandsworth Parks Police is a Police Service run by Wandsworth Borough Council since 1984, and which is primarily concerned in patrolling parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Wandsworth to enforce by-laws and other enactments relating to parks and open spaces.
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[edit] Legal status
The service works closely with the Metropolitan Police Service, with whom there is a history of mutual co-operation, the two forces often assisting each other with arrests, ASBOs, and other operational matters. The Wandsworth Parks Police Constables are sworn in by a Magistrate as Police Constables under article 18 of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government Provision Order Confirmation (Greater London Parks and Open Spaces) Act 1967. This Act provides police powers and they therefore come under the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (P.A.C.E.) and other Acts of Parliament when enforcing by-laws and some Statute Law. Although the 1967 Act affords certain police powers within their given jurisdiction, in many other situations the Parks Police Constables simply use the powers to enforce criminal law afforded to 'any person' as a citizen. They are also Council Officers and as such can enforce legislation which only Local Authority Officers are able to enforce for prosecution. They are always Parks Police Officers regardless of the technicalities of whether or not they are in the act of enforcing by-laws.
[edit] Headquarters
The Headquarters of the service are located in Battersea Park, and include both the office of the Chief Officer, and the modern operations and control centre, manned 24 hours per day. The headquarters is also home to administrative staff and Home Office qualified instructors. The service also holds Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee Medal.[1]
[edit] Staffing
The service is headed by a Chief Officer, with responsibility for all uniformed constables patrolling the parks. This includes a police dog section, headed by a police Sergeant, whose dogs (chiefly German Shepherds) are trained in general police dog duties of crowd control and apprehension of suspects, as well as drug detection.[2] The Chief Officer is also responsible for the team of uniformed Dog Control Officers, headed by a Senior Dog Control Officer, who carry out the traditional duties of dog wardens. Parks Police Support Officers (PPSOs) provide back-up to the police. They are not sworn in as Constables, but they assist in patrol duties and also bear the bulk of the work in staffing the operations and control centre at the Battersea Park Headquarters.[3] Finally there are headquarters administrative and training staff as shown above. The current Chief Officer is John Bannerman.
| Wandsworth Parks Police - Staff | ||
| Operational Police Staff | Uniformed Support Staff | Support & Training Staff |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Chief Officer | 1 Senior Dog Control Officer | 1 full-time administrator |
| 1 Deputy Chief Officer | 5 Dog Control Officers | 1 part-time administrator |
| 7 Sergeants (incl. 1 dog handler) | 5 PPSOs (full-time) | 2 safety instructors |
| 20 Constables (incl. 5 dog handlers) | 19 PPSOs (part-time) | 1 police dog licensing & training officer |
[edit] Vehicles
A variety of marked and unmarked police vehicles is in use. Examples of some of these vehicles are illustrated in various internet articles,[4] and currently (2008) include the following (vehicles marked ** are equipped with police sirens and blue flashing or strobing lights):
- 2 marked police bicycles
- 2 marked police motorcycles **
- 2 marked police cell vans **
- 2 marked police dog vans **
- 2 marked police patrol cars **
- 3 marked Dog Control Officer dog vans
- 1 unmarked Dog Control Officer dog van
- 1 unmarked general purpose van
- 1 unmarked police patrol car.
In 2003 a Lords committee discussed any need to change the powers and status afforded to parks constabularies. Representatives from parks constabularies, the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police appeared in front of this committee. Despite requests and proposals from Borough Councils for stop and search police powers, no change was made to legislation. Please open the www.publications.parliament.uk home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Details here.
- ^ See the dog unit information pages here.
- ^ See staffing details on the service's homepage here.
- ^ This page from UK Emergency illustrates several Wandsworth Parks Police vehicles.
