Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an area of with a population of approximately 1 million. Chief Constable Mark Roberts was appointed in 2021. The deputy chief constable is Julie Cooke, appointed in April 2019. History A constabulary was first formed in the county under the Cheshire Constabulary Act 1829 (10 Geo. 4, c.97) which was amended by the Cheshire Constabulary Act 1852. The passage of the County and Borough Police Act in 1856 led to the dissolution of this force and the creation of a second constabulary. Many of the officers continued to serve in the new force and there were clauses in the Act which allowed their pension rights to continue. The first chief constable was Captain Thomas Johnnes Smith, late of the Bedfordshire Militia. The first full Cheshire Police Committee met at the Crewe Arms Hotel, Crewe, on 3 February 1857 and the new Cheshire Constabulary was officially formed on 20 April 1857. The first headquarters was established at 4 Seller Street, Chester. In 1862 this office was removed to 1 Egerton Street, Chester and remained there until 1870, when it was removed to 113 Foregate Street. In 1893, the Court of Quarter Sessions approved the building of a new Headquarters which was erected at 142 Foregate Street and designed by John Douglas, at a cost not exceeding £2,000. This continued to be used, together with the adjoining buildings, until 1967, when a new purpose-built Headquarters was opened at Nuns Road, Chester. This building served the constabulary until 2004 when the Headquarters building moved to a purpose-built complex at Clemonds Hey, Winsford. In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,359 and an actual strength of 1,329. It was proposed by the Home Secretary on 6 February 2006, that Cheshire should merge with the Merseyside Police, to form a strategic police force, but these proposals were later abandoned. The Museum of Policing in Cheshire preserves and researches the heritage of policing in the county. In June 2022, The Cheshire Police announced that they will start using facial recognition technology in a bid to help identify offenders. The Technology will be used retrospectively to compare images such as CCTV against pictures held on the police national database. Governance The incumbent