Cleveland Police

Cleveland Police is the territorial police force responsible for the policing area corresponding to the former county of Cleveland in Northern England. As of September 2017, the force had 1,274 police officers, 278 police staff, 124 police community support officers and 64 special constables. In the 2019 annual assessment by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Cleveland Police was rated 'inadequate' overall and rated 'inadequate' in all review areas.

The area covers 231 square miles (600 km²) with a population of 569,000. In terms of officer numbers, Cleveland Police is the 12th smallest of the 48 police forces of the United Kingdom. Cleveland has the fourth smallest population of any force in England and Wales, but in terms of officers per 100,000 of population it is the fifth largest.

Geographically, the force has the second smallest police area of the 43 territorial police forces of England and Wales, after the City of London Police. The force is responsible for policing a predominantly urban, densely populated area, closely resembling metropolitan authorities in socio-economic characteristics and policing needs.

Since 2010 Cleveland Police and neighbouring Durham Constabulary have shared road policing and firearms teams through a joint Specialist Operations Unit. These officers are based at Cleveland's base at Wynyard Park Business Park and Durham's station in Spennymoor. Durham and Cleveland Police have shared a Tactical Training Centre in Urlay Nook, near Teesside International Airport (formerly Durham Tees Valley Airport), since 2001.

The Cleveland Police area is a major production centre for the chemical industry, which results in the large-scale transport by road, rail and sea of hazardous substances. The chemical industry remains a key economic factor and presents the force, other emergency services and partners with a significant major incident risk.