Birmingham City Police

Birmingham City Police
Hat badge of the type in use on the last day of the service
Agency overview
Formed	20 November 1839 (1839-11-20)
Dissolved	31 March 1974 (1974-03-31)
Superseding agency	West Midlands Police
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	City of Birmingham in the country of England, UK
Legal jurisdiction	England & Wales
General nature	Law enforcement Local civilian police
Operational structure
Parent agency	Home Office
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

Birmingham City Police was a police force responsible for policing the city of Birmingham in England until 1974, when on 1 April it was amalgamated under the Local Government Act 1972 with West Midlands Constabulary and parts of other forces to form the West Midlands Police.

Following Chartist rioting in 1839, when one hundred police had to be brought from London, an Act of Parliament was passed on 26 August 1839 "for improving the Police in Birmingham". Birmingham was required to have at least 250 constables and 50 officers. A commissioner was to be appointed by the Home Secretary and report to him. The Birmingham force came into being on 20 November 1839 with 260 men. Francis Burgess, a local barrister, was appointed as the first police commissioner for Birmingham. On 12 August 1842 a new Police Act transferred responsibility to the Birmingham Town Council and another removed doubts as to the authority of the council.

When Birmingham became a city in 1889 the town police became the Birmingham City Police.

The Birmingham City Police Band was, at one period, conducted by Appleby Matthews, organist of the city's St. Philip's Cathedral and the first conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra (later the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra). members of the band would sometimes supplement the orchestras numbers.

Chief Constables of Birmingham City Police included: