Bruche Police National Training Centre

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Bruche Police Training Centre in Warrington, Lancashire, England, was a training site for new police officers. It opened in January 1946 and closed in May 2006. The centre was run by CENTREX, the Central Police Training and Development Authority. It began as accommodation for U.S. Army Air Force officers during World War II and became a police training college after the war.

In 1955 Bruche was one of the two UK centres that admitted female officers. Recruits from northern England and Wales attended the main part of their basic training there, covering attitudes, law, safety and officer skills. Training included role-play exercises to test abilities. New officers spent about 15 weeks at Bruche before moving on to patrol, after some time at their own force’s regional training centres.

Bruche housed Sandford, a mock village used for practice. Recruits could simulate routine duties such as dealing with traffic accidents, football hooligans and robberies, with local civilians acting as criminals, victims and bystanders.

In 2003, an undercover journalist trained at Bruche and exposed racist behaviour by some officers; the BBC Panorama episode was titled The Secret Policeman. Bruche was kept in constant use longer than many other police training centres.

The centre closed in May 2006 as police forces began training recruits within their own organisations. In 2013 Warrington Council approved plans for 220 houses on the Bruche site. Other main police training centres were Ashford in Kent, Aykley Heads in Durham, Ryton-on-Dunsmore in Warwickshire and Cwmbran in South Wales. After 2006, Ashford, Bruche and Cwmbran closed, while Ryton and Aykley Heads continued to be used for other police and immigration training.