Fascinating police history, pictures and memorabilia on display in second West Sussex Constabulary exhibition

Alan Moore has been collecting police memorabilia for years and new information that came to light following his first exhibition in Chichester last April was included this year. Mr Moore said there was a good turnout at The Old Court Room in The Council House, Chichester, including a visit from the High Sheriff of West Sussex, Andy Bliss, who was a Chief Constable, expected this afternoon. What he enjoyed most, he said, was chatting to people about their memories and collecting new information for his collection.

The introduction of the County Police Act of 1856 forced the justices for the western half of the county of to form a police force for West Sussex. A decision on the size of West Sussex Constabulary was made at the Quarter Sessions at Petworth on January 8, 1857. There would be one Chief Constable, six Superintendents, four Sergeants and 60 Constables, with six horses and six carts as transport. The county was divided into six divisions, based on the Petty Sessions, Petworth, Midhurst, Horsham, Steyning, Chichester Rural and Arundel Rural. Arundel and Worthing had their own benches and came within the one police division, while Chichester City and Arundel Borough had their own police forces.

The first serving police officer in West Sussex Constabulary to die was PC Abraham Collins on January 21, 1858. His duty required him to sit up all night watching a prisoner who was threatening to self-harm and PC Collins died from hypothermia. His colleagues donated a portion of their wages to support his wife and children, as there was no superannuation scheme at the time.

The Honorary Merit stripe, originally known as 'marked first class constable', was introduced on October 22, 1866. The stripe was awarded in recognition of efficiency and good conduct and continued until the late 1930s, when it was phased out by the new Chief Constable, R.P. Wilson. The first Police Constables to be awarded the stripe were Daniel Smith from Chichester, William Cragg from Sompting, Charles Grant from Easebourne, Thomas Puttock from Pulborough, Richard Gosden from Wisborough Green, Jonathan Porter from Horsham, Henry Silvester from Petworth, Charles Bullen from Littlehampton and Charles Truelock from Worthing.

A new Baton of Honour was introduced by the Chief Constable in 1951, to be presented to the best Probationer Constable. The award was Both baton and stand, to be held by the award winner for a year, were made from 13th century oak from Chichester Cathedral. There was also a silver baton to wear on the right sleeve of the tunic for the remainder of their police career. The Baton of Honour was presented in July 1952 for the first time, to PC Edward Cole.

The exhibition A History of West Sussex Constabulary 1857 to 1967 will be at The Old Court Room, The Council House, North Street, Chichester, today, Thursday, April 20, 10am to 4pm. Enquiries to [email protected]