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.