The City of London Corporation as
a Police Authority
Background
The City of London Corporation is the police authority for the
Square Mile. Since 1839 when City of London Police Force came into
operation following an Act of Parliament, the Court of Common
Council has been the Police Authority for the Square Mile. Section
56 of that Act enabled the Common Council to delegate this
responsibility to a Police Committee under a system which still
continues notwithstanding subsequent legislation.
Police Committee
The Police Committee consists of 17 Members who, in recognition
of the unique nature of the City and its population are required to
fall within the following categories
- three who are magistrates
- five who live in the City
- nine who work in the City
Members are elected to the Committee by their peers in the
Common Council and serve for four year terms which can be renewed.
View the current Membership of the Police Committee here.
Members of the Police Committee are eligible to serve on other
Committees of the City Corporation, where they can gain knowledge
of its role as a Local Authority and the services it provides. This
enables them to take into account not only local views on policing,
but also to understand what impact the City Corporation’s functions
may have on policing issues, eg community services, housing,
licensing, road safety, etc.
View the scheduled meetings of the Police Committee here.
The Committee is subject to many of the same Standing Orders as
are applied to other Committees appointed by the Court of Common
Council, but there are some exceptions in relation to financial
issues. For example, the Police Committee is required to operate
within a cash-limited budget and, unlike other Service Committees,
may not request additional funds to be made available – other than
in the case of an extreme emergency.
Download the Standing Orders here
Court of Common Council (517kb)
The Police Committee meets six times a year to consider relevant
issues pertaining to its remit. It also appoints a Reference Sub
Committee to deal with any matters requiring attention between
meetings and there is a Police Complaints Sub Committee
specifically responsible for considering complaints made against
police officers.
The Town Clerk & Chief Executive of the City of London
Corporation is Chief Executive of the Police Authority, and the
Clerk to the Police Committee carries out these functions in the
Committee forum. To contact the Clerk to the Police Committee
please telephone 020 7332 1406.
Independent Custody Visitors
In 2002, the Government introduced the Police Reform Act to help
regulate certain police responsibility. Section 51 of the Act came
in force as of 1 April 2003 and placed the previously well
established practice of "lay visiting", whereby volunteers attended
police stations to check on the treatment of detainees, on a
statutory footing. The provision requires every police authority,
including the City of London, to: (a) make arrangements for
detainees to be visited by persons appointed under those
arrangements; and (b) to keep those arrangements under review. The
arrangements are referred to as "Independent Custody Visiting
Schemes".
The Police Committee has since agreed its own Scheme in order to
safeguard the welfare of people detained in City of London Police
Stations. As part of this Scheme, independent visitors are
appointed to carry out regular checks on the conditions under which
detainees are kept. It is an important and valuable role in the
local community, particularly through maintaining public confidence
in this important area of policing.
Download the Independent Custody Visitors (ICV)
Scheme here (132kb)
If you are interested in becoming an Independent Custody
Visitor, please email
icv@cityoflondon.gov.uk for
more information.
Equalities
See more details on the
various equality schemes in operation at the City of London
Corporation, including the City of London Police.
Links
Please use the links below to access other websites that may be
of interest.