New South Wales Police Force
| New South Wales Police Force | |
|---|---|
Badge | |
Flag | |
| Motto | Culpam Poena Premit Comes Punishment swiftly follows crime |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1862 |
| Employees | 20,547 |
| Annual budget | A$5.51 billion (2024–25) |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | New South Wales, Australia |
| Location of New South Wales | |
| Size | 809,444 square kilometres (312,528 sq mi) |
| Population | 8,072,163 |
| Legal jurisdiction | As per operations jurisdiction |
| Governing body | Government of New South Wales |
| Constituting instrument |
|
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Parramatta, New South Wales |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive | |
| Facilities | |
| Stations | 432 |
| Airbases | 1 |
| Drones | 1 |
| Police Boats | 52 |
| Helicopters | 6 |
| Aeroplanes | 3 |
| Horses | 38 |
| Website | |
| police.nsw.gov.au | |
The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,600 square kilometres with a population of more than 8.2 million people.
In 2020, it had 21,455 employees – 17,348 police officers and 4,107 support staff, 432 police stations, 3,300 vehicles, 52 boats, 9 aircraft and a budget of AUD $4.8 billion. It is organised into police area commands (PACs) in metropolitan areas, police districts (PDs) in rural areas and specialist commands.
It performs law enforcement in all areas of the state. Local government authorities and other agencies have very limited law enforcement responsibilities. The capacity of magistrates and justices to appoint constables was removed and the Commissioner of the NSW Police now has sole control of the appointment of constables in the state.