Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley region, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in South East England. It is the largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales, covering and a population of 2.42 million people.

History Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 there were ancient ways of keeping law and order through Parish constables or quasi police bodies who conducted a wide range of duties. Modern policing in Thames Valley can be traced back to the 1835 act when a number of boroughs set up police forces. For example Newbury Borough Police were operating as a small police force soon after the passing of the Act. The force was one of around twenty borough forces that were later amalgamated with their county police force. These were Buckinghamshire Constabulary, Oxfordshire Constabulary, Berkshire Constabulary, Reading Borough Police and Oxford City Police founded in 1857, 1857, 1856, 1836 and 1868 respectively. Under the Police Act 1964 these five forces were amalgamated on 1 April 1968 to form the Thames Valley Constabulary.

Thames Valley Police has changed its name only once in its own history in 1971, from Thames Valley Constabulary to Thames Valley Police, a common change in most police forces that may give the appearance of being less confusing and more accessible.

Thames Valley Police's motto in Latin is Sit pax in valle tamesis meaning 'Let there be Peace in the Thames Valley', their slogan is 'Reducing crime, disorder and fear'. The Thames Valley Police shield is made up of features from the shields of its five founding constabularies including a blue river depicting the Thames river and five crowns palisado depicting the five founding forces. The stag is a symbol of Berkshire, the ox a symbol of Oxfordshire and the swan a symbol of Buckinghamshire. Together they represent the counties of the force area.

Chief constables Thomas Hodgson (19681970) David Holdsworth (19701978) Peter Imbert (19791985) Colin Smith (19851991) Charles Pollard (19912002) Peter Neyroud (20022007) Sara Thornton (20072015) Francis Habgood (20152019) John Campbell (20192023) Jason Hogg (2023present)

Governance Thames Valley Police is overseen by a locally elected Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner. The incumbent commissioner is Matthew Barber, a Conservative Party candidate elected in May 2021. The police and crime commissioner is scrutinised by the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel.

Thames Valley was previously overseen by a police authority consisting of 19 members, made up of councillors, members from unitary authorities, independents and a magistrate.

Organisation In April 2011 the force adopted a local policing model and was split into twelve local policing areas (LPAs), each led by a Superintendent or Chief Superintendent. These consist of one or two local authority areas. The LPAs in turn are split into a number of "neighbourhoods" based on wards and parishes.

Local Policing Areas Milton Keynes Aylesbury Vale Cherwell and West Oxfordshire Oxford South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse South Buckinghamshire Slough Windsor and Maidenhead Bracknell and Wokingham Reading West Berkshire Kidlington Each area is responsible for delivering response policing, neighbourhood policing teams, and local investigative units including a tasking, priority crime and Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Other functions that used to be held at a local level are now delivered at force headquarters level using a shared service approach, with resources deployed as required around the force area.

Force Headquarters Teams A number of teams are run from force headquarters and their staff are deployed at various locations around the area:

Major Investigation Team Control and Communications Police Dog Section Counter Terrorism Unit Intelligence Agency

Operations

Neighbourhood Policing Team (NHPT) Each LPA is sub-divided into neighbourhood wards, which are covered by a dedicated policing team that works together with the local community and partners to tackle local priorities and community crimes. NHPTs are typically conduct high-visibility patrols in their local areas, engaging with the community and solving issues affecting them.

Incident Crime & Response (ICR)

Frontline response officers who work out of patrol bases in the force area and are tasked with patrolling and responding to 999 calls. Officers also conduct investigations into the calls they attend. These officers are often issued with the TASER X2 however they are moving towards the newer modelled Taser 7. ICR officers may be tasked to patrol high crime areas for an increased police presence or to conduct follow up investigations.

Dog Section

Thames Valley Police have approximately 52 operational police dogs. The dogs are mostly donated from the RSPCA or public, and are trained at the Force Training Centre. They usually serve until they are 8 years old, receiving refresher training every year, and then living with their handler after retirement. They are part of the Joint Operations Unit with Hampshire Police. The dog section operates with marked and unmarked Mitsubishi Outlanders and Ford Mondeo estates.

Roads Policing Unit (RPU)

Thames Valley Police patrols of motorways, the most of any police force in the UK. This includes the M1, M4, M40, A329(M), A404(M) and M25, as well as many other 'A' route roads including the A43.

These units are based at 6 geographical traffic bases - Milton Keynes, Taplow, Three Mile Cross (Reading), Bicester, Amersham and Abingdon. Roads Policing in Thames Valley is part of the Joint Operations Unit which works together with Hampshire Constabulary's Roads Policing Unit.

Armed Response Unit (ARU)

Thames Valley Police's Armed Response Unit is a 24/7 unit that responds to major and serious crimes where firearms may be involved. This unit is shared with Hampshire Police as part of the Joint Operations Unit.

The training facility is at Sulhamstead with a state of the art firearms range. The unit mostly shares the traffic bases within the force.

Pro-Active Team

This team featured in the TV show Road Wars.

This unit is part of Roads Policing and mainly uses unmarked cars across the force area. Instead of just responding to incidents, the unit uses a proactive approach by actively looking for criminals and catching them in the act, as well as patrolling areas based on intelligence.

The team works in a number of areas including Forced Method of Entry, targeted intelligence and specialist surveillance of criminals both covertly and overtly.

Air Operations Unit

The Air Support Unit was officially created in 1982, but the use of helicopters in Thames Valley goes back to 1963, when Oxford City Police experimented with a Brantly helicopter with a dog basket attached to the skids. Thames Valley Police rented helicopters for use on special occasions in the 1970s and '80s. The unit was founded in 1982 when part-time daylight flights were routinely contracted and eight Sergeants were transferred from Traffic and Operations to ASU. In 1986, the unit was moved to RAF Abingdon.

In 1988, the department became a full-time operational unit, only the third in the country at the time and a sergeant and two police constables were seconded to the unit as observers. Throughout this time the helicopters and pilots were chartered from commercial companies.

In 1996, Thames Valley Police, Bedfordshire Police and Hertfordshire Constabulary amalgamated air support resources and founded the Chiltern Air Support Unit, having received funding in 1995 to buy a second helicopter. The alliance is recognised to have started unofficially in 1992, when Thames Valley would sell flying time to its nearby forces. Helicopters were based at RAF Henlow and RAF Benson, providing support 24/7, with night-time cover from at least one base.

Since 2012, the management of police air-support nationally has moved to the National Police Air Service (NPAS). G-TVHB continues to be based at RAF Benson, whilst the Henlow base was closed and helicopter relocated elsewhere by NPAS.

Search and Recovery Unit Founded in 1956 as the Underwater Search Unit of Berkshire Constabulary and transferred to Thames Valley Police under a new name, the unit today is made up of one sergeant and seven constables and respond to around 350 operations each year.

The unit are involved in a variety of searching operations in river, underwater, underground, and cliff face conditions, searching for bodies, explosives, drugs, property, contraband and firearms and environments that can be affected by Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear radiation.

Marine Support Unit The Marine Support Unit carries out regular patrols of the Thames Valley and Hampshire's waterways, as well as covering special events including Henley Royal Regatta and Reading Festival.

Mounted Section The Thames Valley Mounted Branch based at Milton Keynes Police Station. The unit has nine police horses. The unit is responsible for preventing equine crime, assisting in searches of rural areas, and mainly maintaining public order at demonstrations and sporting events, including the four football grounds in Thames Valley, as well as conducting deployments in Hampshire.

Public Order Department Based in Heyford Park, formerly RAF Upper Heyford, in Oxfordshire. The POD is responsible for providing tactical support during spontaneous or pre-planned events that may result in public disorder. This includes sporting events such as football matches and Royal Ascot, music festivals such as Reading Festival, and lawful demonstrations.

Protection Group Thames Valley Police has the largest non-Metropolitan Police Service operated Protection Group. This specialist department are responsible for guarding multiple fixed locations and protecting any visiting parties that require special attention. They also supply an Armed Support Vehicle to support the static sites and deal with spontaneous incidents. The officers in the unit are required to pass stringent testing, they are Authorised Firearms Officers and also trained in advanced driving, advanced first aid, method of entry amongst many other specialist skills.

Counter Terrorism Unit (CTPSE) Thames Valley Police's Counter Terrorist Unit is responsible for responding to any search related or explosive or terrorist incident, working with Protection Group to guard anyone deemed to be at risk and with dog section to locate the explosive. The unit has four explosive ordnance disposal advisors.

South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) The South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) is responsible for delivering specialist and niche capabilities to Thames Valley Police, Hampshire Constabulary, Surrey Police and Sussex Police, including investigating cyber and complex, organised crime.

Locations

The headquarters of Thames Valley Police is at Oxford Road, Kidlington, Oxfordshire. Thames Valley Police has 48 police stations, with 16 front counters open to the public.

The force is covered by two control rooms, one in Abingdon, and one in Milton Keynes.

The three police contact centres were formed in 2003, following the closure of local control rooms, to support the newly formed control rooms in Abingdon and Milton Keynes. They are located at the force headquarters in Kidlington, and separate teams within the Abingdon and Milton Keynes control rooms. The contact centres handle all emergency, non-emergency and enquiry calls from the public.

Sulhamstead House in Sulhamstead, near Reading, is the Force Training Centre. It also houses the Thames Valley Police Museum, as well as operational units and fleet workshops.

Upper Heyford Park serves as the force's Public Order Department base and training centre.