Cleveland Police was established in 1974. It was then known as the Cleveland Constabulary which covered the newly created county of Cleveland. Its area is the second smallest geographically as it covers only 230 square miles and has a population of over 500, 000.
In 2006, a merger with Northumbria Police and Durham Constabulary to form a single police force for the North East England was proposed by the Home Secretary but this did not push through because there was no support for it.
In 2007, the new headquarters in Middlesbrough were opened which boasted of modern and up-to-date facilities that was one of the only three of its kind in the country. This project was a part of a big budgeted plan to upgrade the level of policing in the area.
The Cleveland force was a member of the North East Air Support Unit helicopter sharing agreement with Durham Constabulary and Northumbria Police where the three police forces shared two helicopters. However, this agreement was abandoned in 2008 when Durham and Northumbria decided that one helicopter would suffice for the three. The two wanted this helicopter to be based at Newcastle but Cleveland did not agree because the base is miles away and would be a disadvantage to Cleveland. Thus, Cleveland was forced to fund its own helicopter worth £500,000. After that, the North East Air Support Unit agreement ended, and the Cleveland Air Operations Unit was formed.
The area covered by the jurisdiction of the Cleveland Police is densely populated and largely urban. The chemical industry also plays a big part on the area’s economy thus presenting a great challenge to the force as the risk of major incidents is quite high.
The Cleveland Police force’s vision is “Putting People First”. In the aim to achieve this vision, the force has created four divisions that would support the goals and standards that have been set. These divisions are Partnerships, Professionalism, People and Problem Solving. The Cleveland police has formulated these divisions in order to effectively control crime and disorder in the area that they have sworn to serve and protect.
