Northamptonshire Police

Northamptonshire Police
Common name	Northants Police
Abbreviation	NPS
Logo of the Northamptonshire Police
Agency overview
Formed	1 April 1966
Preceding agencies	Northampton and County Constabulary (1966) Northamptonshire Constabulary (1840)
Employees	2,147
Volunteers	Approximately 700 volunteers
Annual budget	£121,000,000 (2014)
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	Police area of Northamptonshire, UK
Map of Northamptonshire Police's jurisdiction.
Size	2,364
Population	710,000
Governing body	Home Office
General nature	Law enforcement Local civilian police
Operational structure
Overviewed by	Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary (HMIC)
Headquarters	Wootton Hall, Northampton, United Kingdom NN4 0JQ
Police Officers	1649 (2014) Chief Constable 1 Deputy Chief Constable 1 Assistant Chief Constable 1 Assistant Chief Officers 3 Chief Superintendent 2 Superintendent 8 Chief Inspector 20 Inspector 57 Sergeants 217 Constables 931 Special Constables 410
Unsworn members	908 (2014) Police Staff 774 Police Community Safety Officers 134
Elected officers responsible	The Right Honourable Amber Rudd, P.C., M.P., Secretary of State for Home Affairs Mr. Brandon Lewis, M.P., Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service Mr. Stephen Mold, Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner
Agency executives	Mr. Simon Edens, Chief Constable Mr. Andy Frost, Deputy Chief Constable Ms. Rachel Swann, Assistant Chief Constable Mr. Paul Dawkins, Assistant Chief Officer, Finance Ms. Alison (Ali) Naylor, Assistant Chief Officer, Human Resources Mr. Phil Eaton, Assistant Chief Officer, Information Technology (Temporary)
Parent agency	Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire
Facilities
Stations	9 Brackley Corby Daventry Kettering Oundle Northampton Rushden Thrapston Wellingborough
Website
www.northants.police.uk
Footnotes
* Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The Northamptonshire Police (colloquially known as Northants Police) is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England, in the United Kingdom.

The Force provides municipal police services 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week to 16 town settlements (Brackley, Burton Latimer, Corby, Daventry, Desborough, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Northampton, Oundle, Raunds, Rothwell, Rushden, Towcester, Thrapston and Wellingborough) across 914 square miles (2,370 km2) and has a resident population of 710,000. It responds to more than one million phone calls a year, with more than 120,000 of these being 999 or 112 calls requesting immediate police attention.

As a municipal police force within the United Kingdom (legally known as a territorial police force), Northamptonshire Police is responsible for general law and order within the county, including the enforcement of the laws of Parliament, in addition to county and municipal laws.

Prior to the establishment of uniformed police forces in the United Kingdom, each parish had a Parish Constable – a person appointed locally who had responsibility for enforcing the law within their own village. In villages and towns, a system known as Watch and Ward was employed, where paid Watchmen guarded towns at night.