Police area

	Law enforcement; in the United Kingdom
	Topics
	Agencies (defunct) · aviation · firearms (list) · history · ranks · table of police forces · uniform and equipment · vehicles
	Types of agency
	Territorial police forces · Special police forces · Port police · Park police (London) · Service police · Non-police · Other
	Types of agent
	Accredited Person · Bailiff · Civil enforcement officer · Constable · Court security officer · Customs officer · Traffic officer · Immigration officer · Police Community Support Officer · Police Custody and Security Officer · Tipstaff · Traffic warden · Water bailiff · Wildlife inspector
	Concepts
	Chief police officer · Home Office · Panda car · Police area · Police authority · Police cadets · Police Federation of England and Wales · Scottish Police Federation · Stop, search, detention and arrest powers · Police Oath · Scotland Yard · Warrant card
	Acts
	Police Act 1964 · Police (Scotland) Act 1967 · Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 · Police Act 1996 · Police Reform Act 2002 · Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 · Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006
	Law · courts · prisons
	v • d • e

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Not to be confused with Polícia Aérea.

A police area is the area for which a territorial police force in the United Kingdom is responsible for policing.

The Metropolitan Police District was the first example of a police area - when it was created, all other police forces were responsible for one county or county borough only. Police areas were introduced with the passage of the Police Act 1964 and Police (Scotland) Act 1967, when a number of small (mainly county borough) police forces were merged with county ones.

The current system of police areas is set out by Section 1 of the Police Act 1996.

There are 42 police areas in England & Wales, most of which are defined by Schedule 1 of the 1996 act. They may be altered by order of the Home Secretary.^[1] The two other areas, the Metropolitan Police District and the City of London police area, are defined by Section 76 of the London Government Act 1963 and the City of London Police Act 1839 respectively.