New South Wales Police Force | |||||
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New South Wales Police Force crest
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New South Wales Police Force Flag
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Motto |
Culpam Poena Premit Comes Punishment follows closely on guilt |
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Agency overview | |||||
Formed | 1862 | ||||
Employees | 20,329 | ||||
Volunteers | 495 | ||||
Annual budget | A$3.4 billion (2014/15) | ||||
Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency | ||||
Jurisdictional structure | |||||
Operations jurisdiction* | State of New South Wales, Australia | ||||
Size | 809,444 sq km | ||||
Population | 7,410,700 | ||||
Legal jurisdiction | State of New South Wales | ||||
Governing body | Government of New South Wales | ||||
General nature | |||||
Operational structure | |||||
Headquarters | Parramatta, New South Wales | ||||
Officers | 16,467 | ||||
Unsworn members | 3,862 | ||||
Minister responsible | Troy Grant, Minister for Justice and Police | ||||
Agency executive | Andrew Scipione, APM, Commissioner | ||||
Units |
3
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Facilities | |||||
Stations | 426+ | ||||
Airbases | 1 | ||||
Police Boats | 52 | ||||
Helicopters | 5 | ||||
Aeroplanes | 2 | ||||
Horses | 38 | ||||
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Website | |||||
www.police.nsw.gov.au | |||||
Footnotes | |||||
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. |
Notables | |
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Award | NSW Police Force Banner |
The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is a servant of the Crown, independent of Government, although a minister of the Crown has administration. Divided into seventy six local area commands (LAC), the NSW Police Force consists of more than 500 local police stations and covers an area of 801,600 square kilometres in a state of some seven million people.
Under the Police Regulation Act, 1862 (NSW), the organisation of the NSW Police Force was formally established in 1862 with the unification of all existing independent police units in the state. The authority and responsibility of the entire police force was given to the inspector general of police.
The 1990s were a turbulent period in NSW police history. The Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service was held between 1995 and 1997. The Royal Commission uncovered hundreds of instances of bribery, money laundering, drug trafficking, and falsifying of evidence by police. The police commissioner, Tony Lauer, resigned as the level of corruption in the service became clear and his own position untenable. Peter James Ryan was recruited from the UK. Wide-ranging reforms occurred as a result of the recommendations of the Royal Commission, including the establishment of a permanent Police Integrity Commission.
The current commissioner of the NSW Police Force is Andrew Scipione, who replaced Ken Moroney, on 31 August 2007, with Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson, Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas, and deputy commissioner Catherine Burn. The minister for justice and police, Troy Grant, is responsible to the NSW parliament for the police portfolio. Grant is a former NSW police officer who served 22 years before entering politics.