BIDDULPH POLICE POST POLICE STATION

Staffordshire Police provides a policing service to the people of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

The force area includes one of the largest shire counties in England, covering more than 2, 600 square kilometres or 1, 000 square miles. It has a population of more than 1, 000, 000 and a rich diversity of communities, all with their own specific policing needs.

The foundations of the modern Staffordshire Police were laid in October 1842 at a meeting held at the Court of Quarter Sessions in Stafford.

John Hayes Hatton, a 47-year-old professional policeman, was appointed as the first Chief Constable in December 1842. Two years prior to this he had set up a police force for the county of Sussex.

Under Chief Constable Hatton’s direction new recruits were trained in the yard of Stafford Prison before being posted to one of three policing districts:

A mining district in the south of the county which included the towns of Bilston, Willenhall, West Bromwich, Wednesbury, Smethwick and Handsworth.

A pottery district in the north including the six pottery towns of Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton.

The rural district consisting of the remaining areas of the county including Stafford, Stone, Cannock, Tamworth, Burton, Leek and Uttoxeter.

Lichfield and Newcastle-under-Lyme had their own independent police forces at this time.

In 1842 police constables were paid fourteen shillings a week (the equivalent of 70p in today’s money). They worked nine-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week without a meal break. There were no 'rest days’ and only 'well conducted' men were granted leave, up to 14 days each year, with the Chief Constable’s permission.

By the end of 1843 it was clear that few of the new recruits were suited to a military-style police life. Out of 200 men, 79 had either been dismissed, discharged or had resigned.