Isle of Man Constabulary

Isle of Man Constabulary
*Meoiryn-Shee Ellan Vannin*
Isle of Man Constabulary; Meoiryn-Shee Ellan Vannin
Agency overview
Formed	September, 1863
Annual budget	£15 million
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Isle of Man
	Isle of Man Constabulary area
Size	572 square kilometres (221 sq mi)
Population	85,000
General nature	Civilian police;
Operational structure
Headquarters	Douglas
Sworn members	200
Agency executive	Russ Foster, Chief Constable;
Divisions	4
Facilities
Stations	4
Website
	www.iompolice.im

The Isle of Man Constabulary (Manx: Meoiryn-Shee Ellan Vannin) is the national police service of the Isle of Man, an island of 85,000 inhabitants, situated approximately equidistant from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England.

Structures and deployment

The force has about 236 officers in its establishment. As the Isle of Man is not a part of the United Kingdom, the Constabulary is responsible to the Minister of Home Affairs of the Isle of Man Government. Nevertheless, the service volunteers itself for inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) for England and Wales.

The force is split into four Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs). Each NPT is controlled by an inspector who has established a partnership with the local community to help solve issues affecting the local area.

Neighbourhood Policing Teams^[2]
Team	Parishes etc. covered
Northern	Ramsey, Andreas, Bride, Ballaugh, Lezayre, Maughold, Jurby, Lonan, Laxey
Western	Patrick, German, Michael, Peel, Marown
Southern	Castletown, Port St Mary, Port Erin, Malew, Arbory, Rushen, Santon
Eastern	Borough of Douglas, Braddan, Onchan

There is a Criminal Investigation Department which includes the CID, Public Protection and Pro-active Teams

A small team of intelligence and drug trafficking officers exists dedicated to this. Drug trafficking is an assigned matter to the Isle of Man Customs and Excise.

An Operational Support Group which includes operational Firearms and Training, Public Order officers, a Search Team, Negotiators and Post Incident Managers. Armed officers generally utilize the Glock 17 9x19mm sidearm and favor the Heckler & Koch HK416 5.56x45mm rifle.

A major event for the force is the annual TT races.

The constabulary's headquarters are in Douglas. The present chief constable is Russ Foster.^[3]

Uniform

The distinctive white Isle of Man Constabulary custodian helmet.

In terms of uniform, the force looks very similar to police in the United Kingdom, apart from the Isle of Man custodian helmets worn by male constables and sergeants. White helmets were introduced in 1960 as a summer alternative to the older black helmets (partly for tourism reasons).^[4] White helmets were used as a summer option in other police forces (including Brighton, Southend-on-Sea and Swansea Borough Police forces; Peterborough City Police; the Metropolitan Police's band; and the New Zealand Police), but this practice ceased in the UK in 1969 and in New Zealand in the 1990s. The white helmet is now worn year round by officers on foot patrol. Officers on mobile patrol tend to wear peaked caps.

Officers of the rank of sergeant and above may carry a "signalling stick" when on foot patrol. This is in effect an additional rank indicator. Until very recently, constables "acting up" in the rank of sergeant were referred to as "carrying the stick". If the "acting" was only short term, the stick was often the only indicator of their additional responsibilities.

Controversies

During the tenure of Mike Culverhouse, the force was involved in the Manx Bugging Scandal, and almost all senior officers except the Chief Constable were either suspended, retired or dismissed due to the uncovering of widespread bugging.

Rank structure

The rank structure of the Isle of Man Constabulary follows the practice of United Kingdom county (as opposed to metropolitan) territorial police forces, except that there are no ranks of chief superintendent or assistant chief constable. There are currently three superintendents and four chief inspectors.^[5]