constabulary
/kənˈstabjʊləri
/noun (plural constabularies) British
A police force covering a particular area or city: the Royal Irish Constabulary...
- The orchestrated escort and the accompanying police violence in clearing the picket reflected the involvement of city based police, the local constabulary having been cooperative with the workers.
- The move comes as the Home Office completes plans to merge the county constabularies and reduce 43 police forces to about 15.
- ‘Operation Cobra’ sounds like a plot by undercover CIA operatives to assassinate a Central American despot, rather than the local constabulary's crackdown on car thieves.
adjective [attributive]
Relating to a constabulary: the constabulary strength was 13,000 men...
- The idea of concentrating constabulary strength by temporarily vacating some stations had been part of contingency planning since 1917.
- But police abuse is not the product of some overweening constabulary malevolence constantly bursting the seams of whatever rules for regulating conduct are laid down.
- The office of the Commissioner of Police embodies the principle of constabulary independence.
Origin
Late 15th century (denoting the district under the charge of a constable): from medieval Latin constabularia (dignitas) '(rank) of constable', from constabulus, based on Latin comes stabuli (see constable).