We're 50! Here's to a golden year

North Yorkshire Police hits a golden milestone this year as the force turns 50 years old.

Today’s force can trace its roots back to 1 April 1974, when a swathe of new police forces were launched across Britain.

In 1974 our force formed to cover an area previously looked after by its predecessors, including the North Riding Constabulary, City of York Police and the short-lived York and North East Yorkshire Police. It also brought in adopted parts of neighbouring police forces such as Craven, which used to fall under West Yorkshire.

As these photos from the 70s show, policing looked very different back then.

Our wardrobe was black and white, not high-vis. Our records were on paper slips in metal cabinets. And in a world before computers were everywhere, the only PCs in a police station were police constables.

Our radios crackled. Our beat bikes rattled. And it all looks somewhat quaint by today’s standards.

But that didn’t stop us responding to some massive incidents in our formative months.

As North Yorkshire Police came into being in 1974, Harrogate sub-postmaster Donald Skepper was shot dead in a robbery. Two other sub postmasters would also be killed in the months that followed. A huge manhunt led to the arrest of Donald Neilson, who the press called the ‘Black Panther’, and he was later jailed for life.

The following May, a bus carrying 45 women on a trip from Teesside to the Yorkshire Dales lost control down a steep hill, crashing through the parapet of Dibbles Bridge in Wharfedale (pictured below).

The driver and 32 of his passengers were killed with the remaining 13 travellers seriously injured, resulting in the worst road accident in Britain at the time.

In many ways it was an era of progress. Women who worked as North Yorkshire Police officers had pay parity by the mid-1970s and their range of duties was expanded, so they did the same tasks as men.

The military pomp and rank formalities of 1950s policing had softened slightly. But being ordered to the Inspector’s office could still strike fear into the heart of even a seasoned constable.

We evolved into a more ‘tactical’ organisation, to keep up with changing demand. Task forces, tactical units and specialised skills training for our officers became more common.

Nationally, it was a decade of violent and organised crime, with career criminals doing Sweeney-style ‘bank jobs’, an influx of hard drugs hitting England’s streets, and serious racial tensions in major cities.

However, many of the events of the 1970s, 80s and 90s led to significant policing reforms including much stricter rules around how investigations were conducted, how suspects should be treated and more fairness and greater accountability to the public. Many of these reforms remain in place today and have become the core of everything we do.

Commenting on the 50^th anniversary year, North Yorkshire Police’s Chief Officer Team, which leads the force, said: “North Yorkshire is fantastic county with proper communities and truly great people and we feel very proud indeed to help lead the force through its 50^th year.

“North Yorkshire Police still reflects many of the values it always held dear. Our officers take pride in serving their community, getting to know people and being part of the fabric of North Yorkshire, which we know is still very important to people who live and work in our county.

“But policing is also about adapting to change, whether that’s in our culture and ideologies or our operational response to criminality. Our technology, the development of specialist teams and our wider focus on not just catching criminals but also supporting victims, are just a few of the changes that were impossible to envisage when the force was formed in 1974.”

“It’s incredible to think how far we’ve come in five decades, which is equivalent to only two generations of serving police officers. We’re making sure the force continues to adapt, accommodate and evolve without losing the traditional values that make North Yorkshire Police unique.

“This is ultimately thanks to the people who work for us, and all the people we’ve worked for the force over the past half century. I hope that the next 50 years of the journey seem just as impressive if people look back and reflect in the year 2074.”