Compact and responsive

Organisational Structure

Bedfordshire is a county of contrasts. The challenge for Bedfordshire Police is to provide a Policing service that meets the needs of all sections of the community.

To achieve this effectively, the policing of the county is divided into three directorates – Territorial Policing, Protective Services and Corporate Services.

• Level 1 Crime and incidents are covered from start to finish by our Territorial Policing Structure
• Level 2 Crime and incidents are dealt with by our Protective Services
• All remaining services that provide support to both these areas fall under the Corporate Services Directorate.

We are one of the smallest police forces in the country, but that makes us friendly and fast-moving.

Typically, we have been among the first forces to introduce new initiatives, equipment and scientific techniques, and we have a great community relations record.

Force HQ is based at Kempston in the North Bedfordshire area. We currently have about 1274 officers. We also employ about 900 support staff, including 128 PCSOs, 150 Special Constables and many volunteers.

Territorial Policing

Policing of the county is divided into two geographic regions known as Divisions: County Division and Luton Division.

County Division

County Division, also known as J Division, is under the overall command of Acting Chief Superintendent Andy Street. County Division covers a diverse mix of urban and rural areas and consists of Bedford, Riseley and surrounding villages in the North of the County and Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Ampthill, Shefford, Leighton Buzzard and surrounding villages to the South of the County. County Division has two Superintendents - one covering Community and Partnerships and the other Crime and Operations.

There are three Chief Inspectors who have individual responsibility for North Beds, Mid Beds and South Beds.

The division is then further divided into 7 Inspector-Led Neighbourhood Areas (ILNAs).

• Bedford Rural
• Bedford Central
• Bedford South
• Biggleswade
• Ampthill & Flitwick
• Leighton Buzzard Urban & Rural
• Dunstable and Houghton Regis

These seven ILNAs are made up of Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs). The SNTs are responsible for addressing problem-solving, along with other partners, and the 'Quality of Life' issues affecting our communities.

These teams consist of Police Officers, Special Constables and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), are based within the Communities and will become known to residents.

You can find out more information about SNTs, including your local officers, on the Safer Neighbourhood pages of the Bedfordshire website.

The seven ILNAs are further supported by a central Crime and Operations Department.

The division's priorities for 2007/2008 are to:

• Reduce Crime
• Investigating Crime
• Deliver Customer Service

Our vision is:

• Putting our customers and victims at the heart of what we do

Luton Division

Luton Division, also known as C Division is under the overall command of Chief Superintendent Andy Frost. Luton is a vibrant and cosmopolitan town that includes a large and expanding international airport, a championship football club, one of the UK's biggest shopping centres and a fast-growing university that attracts students from all over the world.

Public safety, crime reduction, victim and witness care – these are the issues that matter to the people of Luton. Equally, these are the issues that matter to Bedfordshire Police, who are united in providing a quality service that fully meets the requirements of the community we are so proud to support.

Here in Luton, we are taking the initiative against crime by working in the community and for the community. At a local level, we have formed five Safer Neighbourhood Teams who, working in partnership with other agencies, the voluntary sector and the public, are determining local policing priorities, combating crime and improving the quality of life for local people.

At divisional level, our Investigation Unit focuses on less serious offences and seeks to bring more offenders to justice. We are also working hard on our operational response to ensure we deliver the best possible solutions to calls from the public. Our Operational Performance Group, which is responsible for the effective management of our police resources on a daily basis, is helping to decrease levels of crime and increase customer satisfaction.

We also have a number of specialist units. For example, our Domestic Violence Unit, working closely with social services and other partner agencies, will investigate crimes between current and former partners, wherever and whenever such crimes occur. At the same time, we have a number of response teams, particularly for burglary and robbery, which can be readily deployed to secure important evidence at the scene and help ensure that offenders can be successfully brought to justice. Meanwhile, our Airport Unit works hard to provide a reassuring police presence and protect passengers, staff, aircraft and property.

The Corporate Services Directorate

The Corporate Services Directorate are the back office functions that the Force needs to do its main job. Corporate Services comes under the overall command of Vince Hislop and covers a diverse mix of functions such as:

• Finance manage the payment for invoices, force budgets, pensions and they ensure that the force provides a effective service within the constraints of the funding available.
• Human Resources which includes personnel, training and development, recruitment , Occupational Health and Welfare departments providing support to all staff and managers within the organisation.
• Procurement which handles the purchasing of all equipment and supplies and includes our stores department managing the uniforms for our officers and staff.
• Property Services and Facilities Management look after the maintenance and provisions within buildings around the force such as our Police Headquarters building and our police stations around the county.
• Vehicle Fleet, in collaboration with our local forces the vehicle fleet department manage the provision of vehicles available to officers so that they can carry out their roles.
• Information and Communications Technology provide dedicated support in relation to all IT and communications within the force such as our airwave radios and Blackberrys.
• Organisational Development manage strategic projects within the force to take the force forward.

Protective Services Information:

Protective Services covers a wide range of policing areas including operational units such as Drugs and Serious Crime, Dedicated Source Handling, Force Intelligence Bureau and Economic Crime to name a few.

In addition to operational policing, Protective Services encompasses Scientific Services and the Major Crime Unit.

The Major Crime Unit (MCU) is a collaboration with Hertfordshire Police working on major incidents and crimes spanning both forces.

Scientific Services includes Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCO’s) who carry out fingerprint, forensic and photographic examinations of scenes of crime, articles used in the course of crime, suspected offenders and victims of crime.

Scientific Services also includes the Imagery Unit which houses the Imagery Studio, Chemical Lab and Video Unit which offers guidance on video evidence including CCTV to maximise evidential value.

Since the 1st April 2007, the Protective Services Directorate has seen the development of the MCU as well as an enlarged Public Protection Unit to include a new Domestic Violence Team with increased multi-agency working.

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