The force was founded in 1839, six hours after Wiltshire Constabulary, making it the second rural police force formed in Britain. The force in its present form dates from 1 April 1974, when the southern part of Gloucestershire became part of the County of Avon and thus covered by the newly formed Avon and Somerset Constabulary. In 1965, the force had an establishment of 1,010 and an actual strength of 867. From 2013 to 2019, specialist teams – roads, firearms and police dogs – operated in a "tri-force" collaboration with the Avon and Somerset, and Wiltshire forces.
Structure
From April 2011, policing in the county is delivered through six Local Policing Areas: Cheltenham, Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Stroud and Tewkesbury. Each of these areas is commanded by a superintendent. Within the six areas there are nine Local Policing Teams covering 55 communities: two each in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud and one in Tewkesbury, the Forest and the Cotswolds.
The Police Roll of Honour Trust lists and commemorates all British police officers killed in the line of duty. The Police Memorial Trust since its establishment in 1984 has erected over 38 memorials to some of those officers. Since 1817 the following officers of Gloucestershire Constabulary were killed while attempting to prevent or stop a crime in progress:
In 2015, Gloucestershire police were able to show using biomechanical evidence that Robert Nowak was the driver of a car involved in a crash in 2013 in which his friend Michal Sobolak was killed. Nowak was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and 7 years' disqualification from driving, for Death by Dangerous Driving, Conspiring to Pervert the Course of Justice and Driving whilst Disqualified.
Race and sex discrimination in recruitment
In November 2006, a tribunal ruled that the constabulary had illegally discriminated against 108 white male candidates it had rejected from its recruitment process solely because of their race and gender. Matt Powell, one of the "randomly deselected" candidates, took legal action and was awarded £2,500 compensation. The Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission who led the investigation stated that the Gloucestershire Police had unlawfully discriminated on the grounds of race and gender. The same illegal policy was also used by Avon and Somerset Constabulary.
