Police Forces and Policing

There are two main sources of statistics on crime: parliamentary papers and chief constables’ annual reports.

Parliamentary Papers

From 1836 onwards within Parliamentary Papers there are Annual Criminal and Judicial Statistics. These deal only with crimes which resulted in a trial (until 1868 they deal only with serious crimes – i.e. those tried in the High Court on circuit). Therefore, care has to be taken when using these, as they do not cover all crimes committed. For a discussion of the problems with these official statistics, see M. A. Crowther, ‘The Criminal Precognitions and Their Value for the Historian’ in Scottish Archives 1 (1995). Larger reference libraries, such as the Mitchell Library in Glasgow and the National Library of Scotland, hold Parliamentary Papers.

Chief Constables’ Annual Reports

In the mid-19th century, chief constables (or the equivalent title, depending on the force) made annual reports to the committee which supervised them (police commissioners in most burghs, and police committees or standing joint committees in counties). To begin with these were recorded in the minute books of the committee, and they give statistics for certain types of crime, as well as an account of the work of the police over the previous year. By the late 19th century, the chief constables of cities, counties and larger towns had the annual reports printed and made more publicly available. By the early 20th century most forces issued printed reports, and these contained tables of statistics. Local studies libraries and some local authority archives keep runs of chief constables’ annual reports for forces in their areas.

Special constables are individuals who carry out limited police duties on a part-time and voluntary basis. Most forces now use special constables. In the past, particularly in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century they were used extensively by Scottish police forces in times of emergency, such as wartime and at times when fear of invasion or civil unrest was threatened. Special constables do not receive a police pension, and do not appear in police personnel registers, although separate registers of special constables sometimes survive in police records.

Libraries, Police Museums and Archives.

Visit your local library for advice on published histories of the police in your area, annual reports of the chief constables of local police forces, and other material.

There are two police museums, one in Glasgow and one in Kirriemuir, which hold collections of police uniforms, memorabilia and equipment.

<https://taysidepolicemuseum.org.uk/about/> [accessed 25 May 2024]

<http://www.policemuseum.org.uk/museum-overview/> [accessed 25 May 2024]

Eleven archive services hold collections of police records: Aberdeen City Archives, Angus Archives, Dumfries & Galloway Archives, Dundee City Archives, Edinburgh City Archives, Fife Archive Centre, Glasgow City Archives, the Highland Archive, Perth & Kinross Council Archive, Scottish Borders Archives and Stirling Council Archives. See Police Records Locations for further details. Contact details for each of these archives are available in the directory pages of Your Scottish Archives

Most police medal enquiries concern two distinct types of medals: awards for gallantry and medals awarded at the coronation of British monarchs.

The King’s Police Medal was created in 1909 by Edward VII, for issue to members of a recognised police force or fire department throughout the British Empire for acts of gallantry or long and dedicated service. In 1954 the King’s Police Medal was replaced by the Queen’s Police Medal and the Queen’s Fire Service Medal.

Medals have been awarded to some classes of people in public service (including certain grades of police personnel) on the occasion of coronations and jubilees of monarchs since 1887.

The most comprehensive public collection of police medals in Scotland is in the Glasgow Police Museum. <http://www.policemuseum.org.uk/> [accessed 25 May 2024]

Alternatively you could ask the Police Insignia Collectors Association of Great Britain. <http://www.pica.co.uk/> [accessed 25 May 2024]

If the medal was awarded for an act of bravery, a good source for what occurred is a local newspaper. For information about which newspapers were current at the place and time in question consult Alice Mackenzie, NEWSPLAN: report of the NEWSPLAN project in Scotland (British Library, 1994); or J P S Ferguson, Directory of Scottish Newspapers (National Library of Scotland, 1984). You can also search the British Newspapers Archive <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/> [accessed 25 May 2024] for a fee or subscription.  For details about the service record of a policeman who received an award, go to the FAQ How can I find the service record of an individual police officer?

The most comprehensive collection of police insignia, uniforms and equipment in Scotland is in the Glasgow Police Museum. <http://www.policemuseum.org.uk/> [accessed 25 May 2024]

Alternatively you could ask the Police Insignia Collectors Association of Great Britain. <http://www.pica.co.uk/> [accessed 25 May 2024]

The chances of obtaining a photograph of an individual, named policeman or policewoman is practically nil before the 1960s, as it is only then that police forces kept personnel files with photographs. For the photograph of a policeman during this period advice should be sought from the force in question or its successor.

For photographs relating to policing in general there are two main sources: police museums and heritage societies; and local authority archives and libraries.

If there are little or no surviving photographs of police personnel etc, it may be worthwhile looking through street photographs for the period in question, if you have the time, as these sometimes include policemen directing traffic or on the beat, photographed by chance or design by the photographer.

Under the Police (Scotland) Act 1858 (21 & 22 Vict., c.65) the sheriff of a county in which a canal or other public work was in the course of construction was empowered to direct the chief constable to appoint additional constables to keep the peace and ensure the security of persons and property from crimes and unlawful acts within the limits of such public works and a radius of one mile therefrom. Under the Harbours, Docks and Piers Act, 1847 (10 & 11 Vict., c.27), provision was made for the appointment of special constables within the limits of a harbour, dock or pier and a mile beyond, but in the larger Scottish ports police duty in the harbours was normally undertaken by constables supplied by the chief constable of the burgh. Therefore, you should look for information in the records of the burgh or county constabulary concerned. Two forces on the River Clyde briefly operated in the mid-19th century. The Clyde River Police was formed 1862 and merged with the Glasgow City force in 1867. The Greenock Harbour Police operated between 1817 and 1822, and, again between 1825 and 1843. It was absorbed by the Greenock Burgh Constabulary.

No. Scottish police forces were organised on a local basis until 2013. Before 1975 they were organised as county and burgh forces (or amalgamations of these). From 1975 until 2013 they were organised as 8 regional forces. Each force was responsible for keeping its own personnel records.

If you are researching the career of a senior police officer, such as a former chief constable, go to the FAQ Where should I look for information about a former chief constable or senior officer of a force?

For other police officers, you need to find out which police force the officer served in and whether and where any records of that police force survive.

If you do not know which police force the person served on – go to the FAQ If I know someone was a police officer but not which force they served on, how do I find out which force?

Once you know police force concerned, check which of the eight regional police forces was the successor force in 1975 and ought to have inherited the records. Do this by checking the Knowledge Base List of police forces in Scotland. Then go to the Knowledge Base on Police Records Locations to find out which archives service holds the surviving records and contact that archives service to find out whether personnel records and other useful records have survived and how you can get access to them.

If you are fairly sure which force the individual served on, but he or she does not appear in the relevant personnel registers, see the FAQ Why might I be unable to trace a service record of a police officer?

Start with a recent publication, which attempts to provide dates for the careers of chief constables of British police forces: Martin Stallion and David S Wall, The British police: forces and chief officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011)

The minute books of the relevant police committee should provide some information about the appointment of a chief constable and, in some cases, other senior officers, such as dates of appointment and leaving, and some details about their background, such as their previous constabulary. If further details are required, such as major events during the period in office, more lengthy research might be required in minute books, scrap books, memoranda books and letter books, if any or all of these survive.

If you do not know which part of the country he or she lived in you require to find out more basic information about the individual from other records – statutory registers, census returns, civil registers of births, marriages and deaths, etc. For basic advice go to the Family History pages.

If you know where someone lived you need to work out which forces operated in that area. Bear in mind that police forces were arranged into burgh, county or amalgamated forces until 1975. Also, some small burgh forces, in the suburbs of cities, were annexed later by Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Someone who lived in Glasgow may have served on a number of forces, for example Glasgow City Police, the Lanarkshire Constabulary, Clyde River Police, or the constabularies of one of Glasgow’s many small burghs (e.g. Govan, Maryhill, Calton, and Partick). You can do this by finding out which county and/or burgh the place concerned was in before 1975. You could ask the relevant local authority archivist or police museum which forces were in operation in or around a particular place at the time in question.

Once you have a list of forces in that area go to the FAQ How can I find the service record of an individual police officer?

If you have searched all the surviving police personnel records for that area go to the FAQ Why might I be unable to trace a service record of a police officer?

Archives which hold police registers frequently receive enquiries where someone researching a police officer does not find an entry on them in the personnel registers concerned. There are several possible reasons why this might be the case:

• The individual was a special constable, not a permanent member of the force.
• The individual served on another force, e.g. the person lived in Glasgow but served on a county or suburban burgh constabulary.
• The individual was not a police officer but worked for the police commissioners in some other capacity (e.g. fireman, clerk, typist).
• The individual began service before personnel register was started, and an earlier register is not extant.
• The personnel registers do not survive for that force.
• The individual did not progress beyond the status of ‘probationary constable’ (i.e. he or she did not complete a probationary period and merit enrolment in the register of constables).
• Clerical error – although this is unlikely, since personnel registers were carefully kept, as they were the main source of information for police pension purposes.