Formed in 1974, Northumbria Police covers an area of more than 2,000 square miles between the Scottish border, County Durham and Cumbria. Around 1.5 million people live in this area.
The total force includes 3,933 police officers, 1,636 police staff, 267 Special Constables and 425 Community Support Officers (CSOs). Northumbria's force area is split into six geographical areas (which we call Area Commands) covering Northumberland, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland.
These Area Commands are supported by 12 specialist departments based at force headquarters in Ponteland, providing a frontline service 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 this number: 999