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Cleveland Police is a territorial police force in England responsible for the policing the boroughs of Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire and Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham within North East England. The force is overseen by the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner. Since 2022, the chief constable has been Mark Webster.
The force covers an area of with a recorded population of 569,000 in 2011. Geographically, the force has the second smallest police area of the 43 territorial police forces of England and Wales, after the City of London Police. The force is responsible for policing a predominantly urban area with higher levels of Poverty than average in the United Kingdom.
In terms of officer numbers, Cleveland Police is the 12th smallest of the 48 police forces of the United Kingdom. As of September 2017, the force had 1,274 police officers, 278 police staff, 124 police community support officers and 64 special constables. In the 2019 annual assessment by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Cleveland Police was rated 'inadequate' overall and rated 'inadequate' in all review areas, concluding that "crime prevention isn't a priority for the force and this is a cause of concern".
It is a successor to the Teesside Constabulary,Teesside Constabulary existed 1 April 1968 to 1 April 1974. The British Police: Forces and Chief Officers 1829-2012 by Martin Stallion and David S Wall (2nd Edn) (2011) (published by the Police History Society) and also part of the York and North East Yorkshire Police and part of Durham Constabulary. The police area is the second smallest geographically, after the area covered by the City of London Police.
Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on 6 February 2006, a proposal for a merger with Northumbria Police and Durham Constabulary to form a single strategic police force for the North East England was suggested. Cleveland Police proposed instead merging with the southern area of Durham Constabulary. In July 2006, the plans to merge the three forces were abandoned.
The Middlesbrough headquarters is the centrepiece of Cleveland Police Authority's multi-million pound private finance initiative project which has also seen a new headquarters for Redcar and Cleveland district and new town offices in Redcar and South Bank. The building, which was officially opened by the then Home Secretary John Reid, is seen as not only the spearhead to policing Cleveland in the 21st century but also the gateway to the regeneration of the St Hilda's area of the town and the flagship Middlehaven project.
On 5 January 2009, the force launched its cadets programme, something which many other police forces have operated for some years. There are 20 places available in each district, and the cadets will meet each week in groups run by police officers, police community support officers, youth workers and volunteers. There will also be the chance to gain recognised qualifications, such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
The report by HMICFRS stated that Cleveland Police were "putting the public at risk," with staff describing the force as "directionless, rudderless and clueless". The report criticised high-ranking officers and staff for "not taking responsibility" of the force, with some "not acting with honesty, integrity and competence". Vulnerable people including children were not identified and left at risk. Despite large numbers of domestic abuse victims being repeat victims offenders were not always proactively pursued. There were delays before police tried to locate youngsters reported missing. Some victims of honour-based violence and survivors allegedly had had a "terrible experience". Crime rose 17.6% in the year to 2019 but according to the watchdog, "crime prevention isn't a priority for the force and this is a cause of concern". The quality of investigations needs improvement, the watchdog maintains. Britain's first failing police force may not be the last The Independent Cleveland Police: Five key failings at crisis-hit force BBC News
A year after the publication of the report, Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Barry Coppinger of the Labour Party resigned. Coppinger cited stress and the workload impacting on his health for his resignation. His resignation was immediate in September 2020 and an interim PCC took over until an election for the post in May 2021, in which Steve Turner of the Conservative Party was elected.
Since 1893 the following officers of Cleveland Police were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress:
Cleveland Police area is divided into four local policing areas (LPAs), previously known as districts, which are coterminous with the four unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. These LPAs are split between North and South of the River Tees for operational purposes.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request in July 2018, Cleveland Police published (in October 2018) the organisational structure of its 'Basic Command Units / Local Policing Units / District Policing Teams or equivalent'. The chart shows the number of police officers of each rank assigned to each unit.
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In April 2012, Cleveland Police admitted liability for "malicious prosecution" and were ordered to pay out over £841,000, one of the largest compensation sums in UK police history. The court was told former PC Sultan Alam was "stitched up" by fellow officers after he launched industrial tribunal proceedings in 1993, complaining of racial discrimination following a series of incidents that included a Ku Klux Klan poster being left on his desk. Cleveland Police admitted that officers suppressed evidence that led to Alam being wrongfully imprisoned for conspiracy to steal motor parts and enduring a 17-year battle to clear his name. Alam, who was, as of 2012, considering a position in public office, did not believe that the force had improved and stated that racism had gone "underground", with ethnic minorities being denied the same opportunities as their white colleagues.
In October 2012 the force's chief constable, Sean Price, was sacked after being found guilty of deceit and misconduct. He was dismissed from his £190,000 a year job (one of the highest rates in the country for a chief constable), having been suspended in August 2011 on full pay.
In May 2013, Cleveland Police agreed to pay a settlement of £550,000 to James Watson, a Middlesbrough solicitor who sued them for false imprisonment after being detained for almost 30 hours.
In January 2019, Chief Constable Mike Veale resigned after being referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on a matter of "serious allegations" of misconduct.
In 2008, Durham and Northumbria decided that just one helicopter based at Newcastle Airport would be enough. Cleveland disagreed saying that this resource would be based many miles away from Cleveland and would leave it at a disadvantage, and would not agree to the proposal. As a result, Durham and Northumbria decided to leave the consortium of the three forces and forge a new agreement without Cleveland, leaving Cleveland to fund its own helicopter from 2009, when the former North East Air Support Unit agreement officially ended, and the Cleveland Air Operations Unit was formed.
Since 2012, air support to the force has been provided by the National Police Air Service (NPAS).
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