Sussex Police

Policing in the county can be traced back to the first force established in Brighton in 1830. A few years later on 13 March 1844 Chief Constable Henry Solomon was murdered in his office by a prisoner he was interviewing. He is believed to be the only chief officer to have suffered such a fate. Prior to 1830 local watchmen were appointed to provide some degree of law enforcement in the area. In 1812, there were some 12 watchmen who were responsible for the town. By 1814 the number had grown to 28 and at this time the title of constable was in use for them. By 1868 the force had grown to 100 officers and helmets replaced top hats. In 1918 the first woman was appointed as a police officer in this force and by 1930 it had grown to 216 officers. On 14 September 1933, Brighton Police were the first force to introduce police radios.

Forces were established for the counties of East Sussex and West Sussex, as well as separate forces in the boroughs of Brighton, Hove, Eastbourne and Hastings. These forces amalgamated temporarily during the Second World War, from 1943 until 1947, but then, with the exception of Hove, policing reverted to the old system for another two decades. Hove remained part of East Sussex Constabulary.

On 1 January 1968 Sussex Constabulary was created from the amalgamation of Brighton Borough Police, Eastbourne Borough Police, Hastings Borough Police, West Sussex Constabulary and East Sussex Constabulary. In 1974 the amalgamated forces became Sussex Police.[4]

Sussex Police is commanded by Chief Constable Giles York.[9] The remainder of the command team consists of Deputy Chief Constable Jo Shiner, Assistant Chief Constable Julia Chapman, and Assistant Chief Constable Dave Miller. Also forming part of the command team are the Assistant Chief Officer, the Director of Finance and Chief Information Officer although these roles are filled by civilian members of staff.[10]

The force consists of three divisions, each being led by a chief superintendent. As at September 2019 West Sussex was led by Chief Superintendent Jerry Westerman, East Sussex by Chief Superintendent Tanya Jones and Brighton & Hove by Chief Superintendent Nick May. Divisions are sub-divided into districts, each led by a chief inspector, providing a local identity for policing. These districts are Chichester, Arun, Horsham, Adur & Worthing, Crawley, Mid Sussex, Brighton & Hove, Wealden, Lewes, Eastbourne, Rother and Hastings.

Sussex Police is also responsible for policing Gatwick Airport.

Districts are further divided into Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs), each led by an inspector. The NPTs are responsible for the bulk of the community work undertaken in an area, and look to deal with long term local issues including anti-social behaviour. Their role stems from the traditional view of 'bobbies on the beat' with police community support officers (PCSOs) providing a high visibility profile on the street, albeit with limited policing powers. Special Constables also serve alongside various teams including NRT, Prevention and on specialist teams such as RPU and Dogs units. Sussex police stated they would try to solve less serious crimes online or by phone and focus resources only on offences with the "biggest impact".[11] Funding cuts are blamed for this.[12]

Police response is covered by Neighborhood Response Teams (NRT) operating from a number of "hub" stations across the area and providing the initial response to most emergency and prompt attendance calls. These teams are led locally by a sergeant and overall they are managed by an inspector. These teams work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Secondary investigation of crime not dealt with by specialist teams – for example CID – is managed by Response Investigation Teams (RIT) who work closely with the NRT.

Oversight of Sussex Police was provided by Sussex Police Authority until November 2012, when this role was taken over by a police and crime commissioner following the first elections. Katy Bourne was elected police and crime commissioner for Sussex Police on 15 November 2012, with a majority of 24,426.

The police and crime commissioner is scrutinised by the Sussex Police and Crime Panel, made up of elected councillors from the local authorities in the police area.

Sussex Police Authority had nine councillors (drawn from the three councils), three justices of the peace and five independent members. In November 2012, elections were held for the first police and crime commissioner for Sussex who took office on 22 November 2012. At that point the Police Authority ceased to exist.[26]

Opened on 4 May 2005 by Councillor Pat Drake, the then mayor of Brighton & Hove, the Old Police Cells Museum is located in the basement of Brighton Town Hall and offers an educational and entertaining insight into the history of policing within Sussex.

It provides an opportunity to visit Brighton Borough main police station for the period 1830 to 1967 and learn about the murder of Chief Constable Henry Solomon in 1844 by a prisoner. It is possible to view the old cells with their graffiti from the mods and rockers era, the policemen's wash room and uniform store areas, police memorabilia and artifacts. The museum also houses a unique collection of truncheons and tipstaffs, one of the largest in the country. This collection was made by Alderman Caffyn throughout his lifetime and is on permanent loan to the Museum from the Sussex Police Authority.[24]

Sussex Police, like many other forces in the UK, has police cadets. There are around 200 operational cadets in Sussex Police. Cadets within the VCC (Volunteer Cadet Corps) often have duties at police stations across Sussex. They have a similar uniform to non-operational police officers and police staff which consists of:

Standard issue white shirt and black clip on tie, black police fleece with hi-vis cadet badges, hi-vis police coat with cadet badges, black trousers. Epaulette saying "cadet" and a visible rank designation (normally chevrons), these will be located on the shoulders of the cadet's shirt, fleece and hi-vis. Standard issue police cap with a blue band and Sussex Police crest saying 'Sussex VCC'

Cadets learn many police skills as well as a student officer syllabus in preparation for joining as an officer. They also assist at public events and displays, as well as low risk police activities such as area searches for weapons (AKA Weapon Sweeps), leaflet delivery.

Proposals were made by the Home Secretary on 20 March 2006 to merge the force with Surrey Police forming a single strategic police force for Sussex and Surrey.[27] Opposed by both Sussex Police and Surrey Police, the plans were effectively abandoned by the Home Office in July 2006.[28]

In a report published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in July 2011,[29] the impact on the number of police officers and staff partly due to the reduction to Sussex Police's budget following the comprehensive spending review is as follows:

In common with other UK forces, Sussex is being forced to save 20% from its budget by 2015. Whilst efforts are being made to minimise the impact of these cuts, inevitably there have been, and continue to be reductions in the numbers of warranted officers and police staff. In September 2010, Chief Constable Martin Richards announced plans to cut up to 1,050 police officers and staff over the following five years, saying that job cuts were inevitable as the force faced estimated budget cuts of £52m by 2015. It was estimated that about 500 of the affected jobs would be police officers.[30]

On 10 May 2012, off-duty officers from Sussex police joined an estimated 30,000 others from around the UK to protest at the cutbacks in a march through London.[31]

In November 2011 Sussex Police became the first force worldwide to live stream unedited footage during a 24-hour period.[32]

Published in March 2012 Sussex Police became the first force in the UK to launch a mobile based app for reporting crime.[33]

A list of officers of Sussex Police and its predecessors who died on duty (in progress) is provide by the national police charity, the Police Roll of Honour Trust.[34]

Key to rank abbreviations: A/x = Acting • CC = Chief Constable • ACC = Assistant Chief Constable • CEO = Civilian Explosives Officer • Cmdr = Commander • DC = Detective Constable • DI = Detective Inspector • DS = Detective Sergeant • Insp = Inspector • PC = Police Constable • Sgt = Sergeant • SPC = Special Police Constable • Stn Sgt = Station Sergeant • Supt = Superintendent • WPC = Woman Police Constable • WRC = War Reserve Constable.

As well as preventing and detecting crime, Sussex Police have a responsibility to reduce the number of casualties on the roads. Additionally, in her 2012 PCC election manifesto, Katy Bourne said that the biggest issue raised in her Sussex Crime Survey was road safety. "Katy will encourage the police to target accident 'black spots' and high risk drivers and continue 'Operation Crackdown' to tackle anti-social driving."[35] The following table shows the combined total figures for the number of casualties on the roads of East Sussex, West Sussex, and Brighton and Hove for the most recent five years for which data is available.[36][37][38][39][40][41]

• Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
• Table of police forces in the United Kingdom
• Police Memorial Trust
• National Police Memorial

• Sussex Police
• Sussex PCC (includes contact details)
• Sussex Police Headquarters when it was based in Horsham between 1894 and 1973