Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million. The force headquarters are at Arnold. As of April 2022, the force had 2,238 police officers, 1,465 police staff including PCSOs, around 163 special constables, 113 police support volunteers, 19 student placement volunteers and 131 police cadets. The chief constable is Kate Meynell, appointed from nearby Derbyshire Constabulary in December 2022, who followed Craig Guildford, in-post since February 2017. Nottinghamshire Police Authority, which governed the force, was disbanded in November 2012, when the first Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner was elected. Police area The police area covers the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, which contains the following local authorities: Map showing Local Authorities within the Police Area. Workforce History Nottinghamshire Constabulary was established in 1840. The following year it absorbed Retford Borough Police. In 1947, it absorbed Newark-on-Trent Borough Police. In 1968 it amalgamated with Nottingham City Police to form Nottinghamshire Combined Constabulary. On 1 April 1974, it was reconstituted as Nottinghamshire Police under the Local Government Act 1972, but retained the name Nottinghamshire Constabulary on all signage, uniform and vehicles until the early 21st century. In 1965, Nottinghamshire Constabulary had an establishment of 1,026 officers and an actual strength of 798. Proposals made by the Home Secretary in March 2006, would have seen the force merge with the other four East Midlands forces to form a strategic police force for the entire region. However, in July 2006 the proposed merger was cancelled. In June 2006, the force was declared effective and efficient by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) after five years of intense scrutiny. In 2009, a performance assessment carried out by the government ranked the force's operational area as the third worst in the country. In March 2010, HMIC rated the force as 'poor' in three reviewed areas of, 'Local Policing', 'Confidence' and 'Protecting from Harm'. Nottinghamshire Police were the only force in England & Wales to receive such a rating. Although HMIC did not attempt to place the 43 police forces in England & Wales in a directly comparable league table (due to difficulties in comparing a large city force with a small rural force), Nottinghamshire Police did give HMIC cause for concern. The media portrayed the analysis as