Northumbria Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the areas of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear in North East England. The service is the sixth largest police force in England and Wales. The current Chief Constable is Sue Sim who was appointed by Northumbria Police Authority on 20 April 2011. The constabulary headquarters are located in Ponteland, Northumberland, near Newcastle Airport. Former Chief Constables include Sir Stanley Bailey (1975-1991), John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (1991-1996), Crispian Strachan CBE (1998-2005) and Mike Craik (2005-2010). Northumbria is Home Office force 10.

The force was formed in 1974 and was a merger of the old Northumberland Constabulary along with part of the Durham Constabulary. The police forces for the county boroughs of South Shields, Gateshead, Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne and Tynemouth had already been amalgamated into their respective county forces in the late 1960s, with the Berwick-upon-Tweed police having been merged into Northumberland in 1921.

Northumbria (Old English: Norþanhymbra / Norþhymbre) was a mediæval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.

Northumbria was formed by Æthelfrith in central Great Britain in Anglo-Saxon times. At the beginning of the 7th century the two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were unified. (In the 12th century writings of Henry of Huntingdon the kingdom was defined as one of the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.) At its greatest the kingdom extended at least from just south of the Humber, to the River Mersey and to the Forth (roughly, Sheffield to Runcorn to Edinburgh) – and there is some evidence that it may have been much greater (see map).

The later (and smaller) earldom came about when the southern part of Northumbria (ex-Deira) was lost to the Danelaw. The northern part (ex-Bernicia) at first retained its status as a kingdom but when it become subordinate to the Danish kingdom it had its powers curtailed to that of an earldom, and retained that status when England was reunited by the Wessex-led reconquest of the Danelaw. The earldom was bounded by the River Tees in the south and the River Tweed in the north (broadly similar to the modern North East England).

Neil P. Craig (born 11 January 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer, fitness adviser and former coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). As of 2012, he will be based in a new role as the Director of Sports Performance at the Melbourne Football Club.

Craig played a total of 319 games (and kicked 220 goals) in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) as well as 11 State of Origin matches for South Australia.

He played 126 games for the Norwood Football Club, debuting as a 17-year-old in 1973. He was a part of their premiership sides in 1975 and 1978, before leaving the club after the 1979 season.

Craig played 134 games for Sturt (captaining the side in 1985 and 1986) between 1980 and 1986 and was also captain of South Australia in 1984.

He moved to North Adelaide, where he finished his career, playing 61 games between 1987 and 1990. At one stage of his career, Craig was pursued by Footscray, a Victorian team in the Victorian Football League (VFL), but declined the offer as he preferred to stay in South Australia. At that time there was a great rivalry between the VFL and SANFL and both competitions considered themselves the best in Australia.

Martin "Marty" McGartland (born 30 January 1970 in Belfast) is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army informer who joined the organisation in order to pass information to British security forces. When he was exposed as an informer in 1991, he escaped from IRA custody and was resettled in England. His identity became known after a minor court case. He was later shot by the IRA, but recovered from the injuries. He has written two books about his life.

McGartland described his childhood as one in which he would join with older boys in stone-throwing to goad the British Army. He also became involved in battles with other Catholic youths against Protestant boys, this mostly involved throwing stones at each other.

He became involved in petty crime, which brought him to the notice of the RUC . He agreed to provide information to them about the Provisional IRA, which he infiltrated and was given the code name, Agent Carol. He led a double life, kept secret even from the mother of his two children. From 1987 to 1991 he provided information to the Special Branch.

A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman, and constable in some forces, particularly in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations) is a warranted employee of a police force. In the United States, "officer" is the formal name of the lowest police rank; in many other countries "officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank, and the lowest rank is often "constable". Police officers are generally charged with the apprehension of criminals and the prevention and detection of crime, and the maintenance of public order. Police officers may be sworn to an oath, and have the power to arrest people and detain them for a limited time, along with other duties and powers.

Some police officers may also be trained in special duties, such as counter-terrorism, surveillance, child protection, VIP protection, and investigation techniques into major crime, including fraud, rape, murder and drug trafficking.

Responsibilities of a police officer are varied, and may differ greatly from within one political context to another. Typical duties relate to keeping the peace, law enforcement, protection of people and property, and the investigation of crimes. Officers are expected to respond to a variety of situations that may arise while they are on duty. Rules and guidelines dictate how an officer should behave within the community, and in many contexts restrictions are placed on what the uniformed officer wears. In some countries, rules and procedures dictate that a police officer is obliged to intervene in a criminal incident, even if they are off-duty. Police officers in nearly all countries retain their lawful powers, while off duty.