Northumbria Police began in 1974 and covers an area of more than 2,000 square miles from the Scottish border, to County Durham and Cumbria. Around 1.5 million people live in this area.
The total force includes 3,809 police officers, 1,434 police staff, 274 Special Constables and 407 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) - (figures last updated 1 October 2012).
Northumbria Police is split into six areas which we call Area Commands and these cover Northumberland, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland.
These Area Commands are supported by 12 specialist departments and together they work to prevent, detect and reduce crime in the Northumbria area. The force is led by Chief Constable Sue Sim.
Phoning the police in an emergencyIf you need the police to come quickly you need to phone: 999