The first ‘professional’ paid police officers in Sussex appeared in 1836, with Hastings, Arundel and Chichester setting up rudimentary Forces. By the 1880’s the whole of the County was patrolled, with the County Borough’s having their own Forces, whilst the rural areas were covered by the West Sussex Constabulary and the East Sussex Constabulary. Only in 1968 did the remaining five forces combine to form Sussex Police.
The speaker joined Sussex Police that year as a sixteen year old Junior Cadet and stayed for another 32 years ! This talk will look at the history of the Forces and include some of the more notable crimes investigated over the years including the murder of the Chief Constable of Brighton in 1844, the Brighton Trunk Murders in 1934 and some more recent crimes that have hit the headlines as well as looking at the advances in transport, communications and crime detection.