Police amalgamations and reorganisations
Throughout the later 19th century and the 20th century many burgh constabularies were absorbed by county or city constabularies, and several constabularies amalgamated. Following the Police (Scotland) Act 1857, the Inspectors of Constabulary for Scotland advised that smaller police forces should be amalgamated with counties or nearby burghs, and this view was repeated by various committees in the 20th century.[1]
In 1889 the counties of Ross and Cromarty, including their police forces, were united.[2] In 1930 the constabularies of Perthshire & Kinross-shire combined, and likewise the constabularies of Moray & Nairnshire.[3]
Following legislation in 1946, several large forces were created between 1948 and 1950.[4] These were Scottish North-Eastern Counties (Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Kincardineshire, Morayshire and Nairnshire); Berwick, Roxburgh & Selkirk; Renfrewshire & Bute; Stirling & Clackmannan; Dumfries & Galloway (Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire); and Lothian & Peebles (East Lothian, Midlothian, Peeblesshire, and West Lothian).
In 1963 the forces of Ross & Cromarty and Sutherland combined to form the Ross & Sutherland Constabulary, and in 1969 the Northern Constabulary was formed from the constabularies of Caithness, Orkney and Zetland. In 1975 all county, burgh and amalgamated constabularies were replaced by eight police forces (Strathclyde, Lothian & Borders, Grampian, Tayside, Fife, Central, Northern, and Dumfries and Galloway), supervised by regional council police committees.[5] These eight forces were amalgamated into Police Scotland in 2013.[6]
Police Scotland is responsible for the surviving historical records of its predecessor police forces and has agreements with a number of local authority archives to hold many of these records which are no longer required for operational purposes (see police records locations for details).
Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000).
Related Knowledge Base entries
Police – County Constabularies
Police – List of police forces in Scotland
Bibliography
Davidson, Neil, Louise A. Jackson and David M. Smale ‘Police Amalgamation and Reform in Scotland: The Long Twentieth Century’ The Scottish Historical Review, 95.1: No 240 (2016), pp. 88-111
Dinsmor, Alastair, and Robert H. J. Urquhart, ‘The Origins of Modern Policing in Scotland’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 36-44
Stallion, Martin and David S. Wall, The British police: forces and chief officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011)
References
[1] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72); Neil Davidson, Louis A. Jackson and David M Smale ‘Police Amalgamation and Reform in Scotland: The Long Twentieth Century’ The Scottish Historical Review, 95.1: No 240 (2016) pp. 88-111 (pp.93, 97-98).
[2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (57 & 58 Vict. c.58).
[3] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.10(7).
[4] Police (Scotland) Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. VI c.71).
[5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65).
[6] Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (asp 8).