Oxfordshire Constabulary was the Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

 police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 force for the county of Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, until 1968.

Oxfordshire Constabulary was established in 1857. It later absorbed Banbury Borough Police and Chipping Norton Borough Police (both established in 1836) and Henley Borough Police (established in 1838). In 1965 it had an establishment of 423 and an actual strength of 297.

On 1 April 1968 Thames Valley Constabulary was formed by the amalgamation of Buckinghamshire Constabulary

Buckinghamshire Constabulary

Buckinghamshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Buckinghamshire, England, until 1968.Buckinghamshire Constabulary was established in 1857. It later absorbed Buckingham Borough Police and Chepping Wycombe Borough Police...

, Berkshire Constabulary

Berkshire Constabulary

Berkshire Constabulary is a former Home Office police force which was responsible for policing the county of Berkshire in Southern England. Berkshire Constabulary was merged with several other adjacent police forces in 1968 to form the Thames Valley Police....

, Oxford City Police, Oxfordshire Constabulary and Reading Borough Police

Reading Borough Police

The Reading Borough Police was a police force for the borough of Reading in the United Kingdom. The force was created in 1836, at which time it had a strength of 30 constables, two sergeants and two inspectors....

.