There are over 52 police forces in the United Kingdom, of varying sizes and responsibilities. UK police were once known as 'Peelers' (and more commonly as 'Bobbies') after Sir Robert Peel, who created the London Metropolitan Police force in 1829. There are three general types of police force:
The majority of policing is carried out by regional 'police forces', which are police forces that cover a 'police area' (a particular region) and have an independent Police Authority. Current police forces have their grounding in the Police Act 1996, which prescribes a number of issues such as appointment of a Chief Constable, jurisdiction and responsibilities. There are also national police forces that have a specific, non-regional jurisdiction, such as the British Transport Police. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 refers to these as 'special police forces'.
There are a number of local police forces or 'private constabularies' that have escaped police reform, mostly having their foundations in old legislation. These have a responsibility to police specific local areas, such as ports and parks. Over the centuries there has been a wide variation in the number of police forces in the United Kingdom, with a huge number now no longer in existence. See List of former police forces in the United Kingdom for these.
With the exception of the Ministry of Defence Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland the majority of British police are never routinely armed, relying on an extendable baton instead and special armed units are called in only when necessary.
Uniquely in Britain, there are police forces of Crown Dependencies such as the Isle of Man, Falkland Islands, and States of Jersey & Guernsey, who have police forces that share resources with the UK police, whilst having a separate administration within their own governments.