River Tyne Police

The River Tyne Police was a police force established under the Newcastle upon Tyne Port Act 1845 which patrolled the River Tyne in England between 1845 and 1968.

History

Establishment

The first attempt to establish a police force the river was made in May 1821, when a River Committee of the Common Council (of the Corporation of Newcastle) were requested by a group from coal merchants & ship owners from North Shields, South Shields and Newcastle to form a police force to prevent crime on the river. The Committee appointed a Superintendent, who identified 11 men to be sworn in as special constables on a trial basis, for a period of three months from June 1821. The Committee also ordered four boats for the men to use.^[2]

It seems that this effort was not entirely successful: by 1844, ship owners repeated the request. Speaking during a meeting of the Council in February 1845, Councillor Rayne said: "Twenty years ago this river police was tried at a considerable expense, he believed not less than £600 a year but it turned out not only that it was impractical for the purposes for which it was established but that those who were sent to detect thieves were often the depredators themselves".^[2]

In response to the second request, the former chief constable of

Robert Farmer was appointed as Chief Officer of the River Police in 1884, and held this position until 1902.[4]

20th century

The force was not included in the recommendations made by the

A similar question was asked ten years later, when Leslie Hore-Belisha drew attention to the fact that the River Tyne Commissioners did not comply with the requirements of the regulations under the Police Act 1919, and the Home Office minister Alfred Short described the force as being in an "exceptional position" as it was not subject to Government inspection and did not receive a grant from the Treasury, and so recognised that it was not within the scope of the Home Office to take any further action.^[7]

World War II

During World War II, the police were involved in securing the ports and managing clearances with HM Customs and Excise.^[8] From 30 November 1949 it also took over responsibility for policing on the property of the

In 1956, the force had 78 officers, and an annual budget of £52,642.[9] In 1965, the force policed the River Tyne, Albert Edward and Tyne docks and the Shields ferry. It had three stations: the headquarters at Mill Dam, South Shields, a station at Pipewellgate on the Gateshead side of the Swing Bridge, and others at Albert Edward Dock, Tyne Dock and on the North Shields Ferry Landing. The force also had a Criminal Investigation Department, who were based in the former Custom House on the Mill Dam. The strength of the force was one Chief Constable, one Chief Inspector, four Inspectors, ten uniformed Sergeants, a Detective Sergeant, 40 Constables and two Detective Constables.^[10]

In 1966, in response to a question from the Member of Parliament for

• Rigg, Kevin (January 2013). "From 'pounding the pavement' to 'pushing the pedal': a constable's perspective of the detraditionalisation of policing in a small county borough police force, 1947-1968" (PDF). Teesside University. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

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