Association of Chief Police Officers

The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established in 1948, ACPO provided a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinate their strategic operational responses, and advised government in matters such as terrorist attacks and civil emergencies. ACPO coordinated national police operations, major investigations, cross-border policing, and joint law enforcement. ACPO designated Senior Investigative Officers for major investigations and appointed officers to head ACPO units specialising in various areas of policing and crime reduction.

The last ACPO president, from April 2009 until its dissolution, was Sir Hugh Orde, who was previously the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

ACPO was funded by Home Office grants, profits from commercial activities and contributions from the 44 police authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Following the Parker Review into ACPO, it was replaced in 2015 by a new body, the National Police Chiefs' Council, set up under a police collaboration agreement under Section 22A of the Police Act 1996.

UK policing sprang from local communities in the 1800s. Since the origins of policing, chief officers have regularly associated to discuss and share policing issues. Although ACPO as now recognised was formed in 1948, records of prior bodies go back to the early 1900s. The UK retains a decentralised model of policing based around the settlement which emerged from the Royal Commission on the work of the Police in 1962.

ACPO continued to provide a forum for chief officers across 44 local police forces and 13 national areas across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and provided local forces with agreed national policies and guidelines. Originally more of a gentleman's club, it soon evolved into an effective body for representing senior ranks in the police service.

ACPO failed to convince its sponsors to contribute to its survival and in May 2011 the BBC reported that ACPO would run out of money in February 2012 without extra funding. ACPO was half-funded by the Home Office and half by 44 police authorities. A third of police authorities refused to pay in 2010 and another third were undecided. The Association of Police Authorities said the withdrawal of funding by police authorities was "partly due to a squeeze on their income". ACPO was due to wind up formally in April 2015.

Over time, demands for coordination across the police service increased as society changed, for example to take account of new developments in international terrorism and organised crime, or roles such as monitoring offenders on release from prison or working with young people to divert them from crime.