The force was established in 1840 as
Warwickshire Constabulary. It did not, however, even cover all the rural areas of the county until 1857.
Birmingham,
Coventry,
Leamington Spa,
Stratford-upon-Avon and
Warwick originally had their own police forces. The Warwickshire force absorbed
Warwick Borough Police in 1875 and
Stratford-upon-Avon Borough Police in 1889 with
Leamington Borough Police lasting until 1946. In 1969,
Coventry City Police amalgamated with Warwickshire Constabulary and the force became
Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary. However, with the inclusion of Coventry in the new county of the
West Midlands in 1974, Coventry passed to the new
West Midlands Police, which also took over the areas of the
Birmingham City Police and part of the northwestern area of Warwickshire (around
Solihull and
Sutton Coldfield). Warwickshire Constabulary reverted to its old name. In 2001, its name was changed to Warwickshire Police. Under proposals announced by the then
Home Secretary,
Charles Clarke, on 6 February 2006, Warwickshire Police would have merged with
Staffordshire Police,
West Mercia Constabulary and
West Midlands Police to form a single strategic force for the
West Midlands region. These proposals were subsequently abandoned. Warwickshire Police was until April 2007 a partner alongside three other forces in the
Central Motorway Police Group. In December 2010, the
Warwickshire Justice Centre was completed in Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa. As well as a police station, the complex houses the
magistrates' court,
Crown Court,
County Court, and other agencies such as the
Probation Service and
Victim Support. It was officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth II on 4 March 2011. A similar complex was already in operation in
Nuneaton.
Chief constables The force has had a number of chief constables since 1857: • 1857–1876: James Issac • 1876–1892: J. H. Kinchant (fled to India and dismissed) • 1892–1929: Captain John Turner Brinkley • 1929–1948: E. K. H. Kemble • 1948–1958: Lt-Col. Geoffrey C. White • 1958–1964:
Peter Ewan Brodie • 1964–1976: Richard Bonnar Matthews • 1976–1978: Albert Laugharne • 1978–1983: Roger Birch • 1983–1998:
Peter D. Joslin • 1998–2000: Andrew C. Timpson • 2000–2006: John Burbeck • 2006–2011:
Keith Bristow • 2011–2015: Andy Parker • 2015–2021: Martin Jelley • 2021–2024: Debbie Tedds • 2024–present: Alex Franklin-Smith ==Organisation==