The Sovereign Base Areas Police is the local civilian police force for the British controlled Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus.

Sovereign Base Areas Police
SBA Police patch with badge
SBA Police patch with badge
Common nameSovereign Base Areas Police
Agency overview
Formed15 August 1960
Employees253
Jurisdictional structure
National agency
(Operations jurisdiction)
SBA
Operations jurisdictionSBA
Map of the Sovereign Base Areas Police's jurisdiction.
Size250 km2
Population14,000
Legal jurisdictionAs per operations jurisdiction
Governing bodyMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersSovereign Base Areas Police HQ, British Forces Episkopi
Military appointment responsible
  • Major-General Robert J. Thomson CBE DSO, Administrator, Sovereign Base Areas
Agency executive
  • Mick Matthews, Chief Constable
Parent agencyMinistry of Defence
Facilities
Stations
3
  • Episkopi Police Station
  • Dhekelia Police Station
  • Ay Nicolaos Police Station
PrisonsHis Majesty's Prison, Dhekelia
Patrol carsYes
Armed response vehiclesYes
DogsYes
Website
www.sba.mod.uk/web_pages/sbap.htm Edit this at Wikidata

Organisation

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Established in August 1960, the force has responsibility for all 15,000 residents of the SBAs, including military personnel. The Cyprus Joint Police Unit (the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and RAF Police), has concurrent jurisdiction over all offences committed by service personnel and UK dependents/employees within the SBAs, garrisons, and stations, and other retained military sites outside the SBAs.

Both work in full cooperation with each other and any jurisdiction issues are managed through an agreed memorandum of understanding.[1]

Numbers

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The SBA Police consists of a total of 241 officers and 12 civilian employees.[citation needed] There are British senior officers, with the remainder recruited from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.[2] In addition to its regular policing duties, the SBA Police has responsibility for the operation of HMP Dhekelia (the SBA Prison).

Affiliation

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Although the SBA Police is administered by the Ministry of Defence,[3] it is a separate force from the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP).[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sovereign Base Areas – Police". www.sbaadministration.org. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  2. ^ "SBA Police Recruits Swear To Serve And Protect". Forces Network. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  3. ^ https://rm.coe.int/pdf/168076e130 [bare URL]
  4. ^ "UCLan Cyprus signs innovative policing partnership". University of Central Lancashire. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
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