Law enforcement in the United Kingdom

Metropolitan Police officers.
The British Transport Police are responsible for policing the railway network of Great Britain, as well as certain rapid transit and tram systems.
An example of a UK police vehicle, this one a Norfolk Constabulary Vauxhall Astra, featuring standardised blue and yellow battenburg markings used by all UK police forces.

Law enforcement
in the United Kingdom
Topics
Equipment
Types of agency
Types of agent
Concepts
Acts
Statutory instruments

Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.[nb 1] Most law enforcement duties are carried out by those who hold the office of police constable of a territorial police force.

As of 2021, there were 39 territorial police forces in England, 4 in Wales, a single police force in Scotland, and a single police force in Northern Ireland.[1] These territorial police forces are responsible for most law enforcement and crime reduction in their respective police areas.[nb 2] In terms of national government the territorial police forces of England and Wales are overseen by the Home Office, although they are operationally independent from government. The British Transport Police (BTP), the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP), and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) provide specialist policing services in England, Scotland and Wales. The National Crime Agency (NCA) is primarily tasked with tackling organised crime and has been compared to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.[2][3]

Police constables are granted certain powers to enable them to execute their duties. Their primary duties are the protection of life and property, preservation of the peace, and prevention and detection of criminal offences.[4] In the British model of policing, police officers exercise their police powers with the implicit consent of the public. "Policing by consent" is the phrase used to describe this. It expresses that the legitimacy of policing in the eyes of the public is based upon a general consensus of support that follows from transparency about their powers, their integrity in exercising those powers and their accountability for doing so.[5][6]

Most police constables in England, Scotland and Wales do not carry firearms. As of 2022, there were 142,526 police officers in England and Wales, 6,192 of which were firearms authorised.[7]


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  1. ^ Brown, Jennifer. "Policing in the UK". House of Commons Library.
  2. ^ "The National Crime Agency: Does Britain need an FBI?". www.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  3. ^ "'Britain's FBI' could take over terror fight from police". The Independent. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Code of Conduct for Police Officers" (PDF). North Yorkshire Police Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Policing by consent". UK Government Home Office. 10 December 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  6. ^ "Surveillance Camera Code of Practice" (PDF). UK Government Home Office. June 2013. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Police use of firearms statistics, England and Wales: April 2021 to March 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 July 2023.