North West Motorway Police Group
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The North West Motorway Police Group (NWMPG) provides a regionalised policing service for the Motorways within the Cheshire, Lancashire, and Merseyside police areas.[1] It was established in June 2008 in partnership with the Highways Agency.[1]
Operating from five bases around the region, NWMPG is made up of 115 police officers and more than 30 support staff from the three forces.[2] The group is responsible for patrolling a motorway network stretching from the borders with Cumbria in the north to West Mercia and Staffordshire to the south, as well as North Wales to the west and Greater Manchester to the east.[2]
It has been modelled on the successful Central Motorway Police Group which started in 1990 when West Midlands Police and West Mercia Constabulary formed a partnership to provide a dedicated policing unit for the motorways surrounding Birmingham.[1] CMPG now includes Staffordshire Police.[1]
The 24-hour Regional Command and Control Centre, located at the Highways Agency Regional Control Motorway Centre at Newton-le-Willows, will maintain contact with all police and Highways Agency staff deployed by their respective organisations across a total of more than 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2). [3]
Motorways covered
Officers from the NWMPG patrol all or part of the following motorways:
Vehicles
NWMPG uses a fleet of more than 40 vehicles including high-powered saloons, 4x4 vehicles, and a number of fully-equipped plain vehicles.