Hertfordshire Constabulary is responsible for the county of Hertfordshire in England. Its headquarters is located in Welwyn Garden City. Its manpower consists of over 3900 police officers and staff, and is supported by more than 400 special constables.
The constabulary was formed in 1841, under the County Police Act, five years after the formation of the Hertford Borough Police and St Albans Borough Police. In 1889, the Hertford Borough Police force was merged into Hertfordshire, while St Albans remained independent only until 1947.
On April 1, 2010, Hertfordshire Constabulary launched the Local Policing Command to ensure a more effective way of providing police services across the county. Changes and improvements have been made in order to protect the people at all times.
The Local Policing Command is comprised of various units including Intervention and Response, Neighbourhood, Plain clothes and Detective Units, and Intelligence and Tasking Units. The LPC is also supported by several centrally based units such as Firearms, Dog Section, Roads Policing, Air Support, Control Room, Forensic Services and Major Crime. All these units work hand in hand to provide efficient policing services to the community and the people who reside in it.
The Hertfordshire Constabulary has both emergency and non-emergency numbers in order for them to be able to prioritize high risk cases. The force contact centre receives an average of 3000 calls a day. Police response varies according to the nature and distance of the received call, but is aimed to be swift and timely at all times. The force has vowed to maintain transparency in the service they provide. This is done so that concerned parties would be in the know of the progress their cases are having. There are instances, however, that some information needs to be restricted for security purposes.
There have been proposals in 2006 to merge the constabulary with the neighbouring forces Bedfordshire Police and Essex Police in order to form a strategic police force. However, this move did not push through because of local opposition and lack of support from Prime Minister Tony Blair and the central government.
