Thank you for your email to the Association of Police and Crime
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The APCC is the national membership body for Police and Crime
Commissioners (PCCs), and other local policing bodies across England and
Wales. We help PCCs to provide national leadership and influence change in
the policing and criminal justice landscape.

We are unable to respond to your email if it relates to:

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To report a crime, please contact your local police force, or dial 101 if
you do not require an emergency response. You should always call 999 in an
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To make a suggestion or a complaint about how your local area is policed,
please contact your local PCC/police governance body. You can find your
local PCC [1]here. 

o Complaints regarding police officers or staff

If you would like to make a complaint about either police officers or
staff working for a police force, then please visit the Independent Office
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To do this, please contact the Police & Crime Panel for your area.
Information on this will be provided by your local council.

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The APCC is a transparent organisation and complies with the new Data
Protection Regulations.  More information about the sort of personal data
we hold, our purpose and lawful basis for doing so and who we share
personal information with can be found in our privacy statement here.  The
GDPR gives you rights about what happens to your personal data and you
have the right to object to us processing your personal information. 
Information on how to do this is included in our [3]privacy statement.

References

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1. http://www.apccs.police.uk/find-your-pcc/
http://www.apccs.police.uk/find-your-pcc/
2. https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/
https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/
3. https://www.apccs.police.uk/privacy-and-...
https://www.apccs.police.uk/privacy-and-...

Dear Mr McDonnell

Thank you for your email.

In England and Wales, the term 'police officer' generally refers to an officer of any rank within a police force, from the most junior, right up to the Chief Constable.

'Police constable' generally refers to the lowest rank of police officer, as distinct from a sergeant, inspector, superintendent, etc.

This is the difference in day to day terminology, however there are some exceptions to this depending on the context. For example, in legislation, where occasionally references are made to a 'police constable of any rank' - here the meaning would be similar to that of a 'police officer' stated above.

We hope this helps.

Kind regards,

APCC Secretariat

The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, APCC|Lower Ground, 5-8 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JS|Tel: 0207 2224296|Fax: 0207 2224157 |www.apccs.police.uk

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The APCC is a transparent organisation and complies with the new Data Protection Regulations.  More information about the sort of personal data we hold, our purpose and lawful basis for doing so and who we share personal information with can be found in our privacy statement here.  The GDPR gives you new rights about what happens to your personal data and you have the right to object to us processing your personal information.  Information on how to do this is included in our privacy statement.

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