The Northern Constabulary ( gd, Poileas a' Chinn a Tuath) was the
territorial police force A territorial police force is a police service that is responsible for an area defined by sub-national boundaries, distinguished from other police services which deal with the entire country or a type of crime. In countries organized as federations, ...
responsible for
Northern Scotland
Northern Scotland was an administrative division of Scotland used for police and fire services. It consisted of Highland, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, and the Western Isles. The police service (Northern Constabulary) used ''Norther ...
, covering the
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act. ...
along with the
Western Isles
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...
, the
Orkney Islands
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
and the
Shetland Islands
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
, which make up most of the
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).
The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...
area. It was the police force covering the largest geographical area in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, equivalent to the size of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, but was one of the smallest in terms of officers, with about 715 officers. The Constabulary was one of those amalgamated to form
Police Scotland
Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...
in 2013.
History
This police force was formed on 16 May 1975 as a merger of the pre-existing Northern Constabulary, the
Ross and Sutherland Constabulary (itself a merger of
Ross and Cromarty Constabulary and
Sutherland Constabulary) and the
Inverness Constabulary
Inverness Constabulary was a police force in Scotland that covered Inverness-shire.
It was created on 16 November 1968, as a merger of the Inverness Burgh Police and the Inverness-shire Constabulary. Inverness Constabulary merged with the Northe ...
(a merger of
Inverness Burgh Police
The Inverness Burgh Police was the police force responsible for the Royal Burgh of Inverness, Scotland from 1847 until 1968.
History
Although law enforcement of a kind had been present in the Royal Burgh of Inverness since time immemorial, by 1 ...
and
Inverness-shire Constabulary
The Inverness-shire Constabulary, also called the Inverness County Police, was the police force of the county of Inverness-shire in Scotland.
The force was established in 1840. On 16 November 1968 the Constabulary merged with Inverness Burgh Pol ...
), along with the northernmost portion of the
Argyll County Police
Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshi ...
area, and the Nairn part of the
Scottish North East Counties Constabulary. The previous Northern Constabulary had been created in 1969 by the merger of the
Caithness Constabulary,
Orkney Constabulary and
Zetland Constabulary.
![Northern Constabulary Range rover at Police Headquarters Inverness Scotland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Northern_Constabulary_Range_rover_at_Police_Headquarters_Inverness_Scotland.jpg)
The new Northern Constabulary was created at the same time as
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
reorganisation created the Highland
regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
council and the
islands councils of the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. The rest of the Argyll County Police was merged into the
Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshir ...
, and the rest of the Scottish North East Counties Constabulary into the
Grampian Police
Grampian Police was, between 1975 and 2013 (replaced by Police Scotland), the territorial police force of the northeast region of Scotland, covering the council areas of Aberdeenshire, the City of Aberdeen, and Moray (the former Grampian region) ...
.
The Northern Constabulary area was the same as that covered by the
Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
.
To help keep decision-making as local as possible, Northern was at the forefront nationally in Devolved Resource Management (DRM) for many years. The
Chief Constable allocated one-line budgets to each of his Area Commanders, closely monitoring progress across a range of indicators, over the year, through regular Performance Review and Performance Review Boards.
An
Act of the Scottish Parliament
An Act of the Scottish Parliament ( gd, Achd Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create Acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the successfu ...
, the ''Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012'', created a single Police Service of Scotland - known as
Police Scotland
Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...
- with effect from 1 April 2013. This merged the eight regional police forces in Scotland (including Northern Constabulary), together with the
Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency
The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) was a special police force of Scotland responsible for disrupting and dismantling serious organised crime groups.
The Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) was established on 1 April 2001 ...
, into a single service covering the whole of Scotland. Police Scotland has its headquarters at the
Scottish Police College
The Scottish Police College is based at Tulliallan Castle, in Kincardine.
Since 1 April 2013, the college has been under the control of Police Scotland.
In addition to probationer training, the college provides training in various specialist a ...
at
Tulliallan
Tulliallan (Gaelic ''tulach-aluinn'', 'Beautiful knoll') was an estate in Perthshire, Scotland, near to Kincardine, and a parish.
The Blackadder lairds of Tulliallan, a branch of the Blackadder border clan, wielded considerable power in the 15 ...
in
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
.
Divisions and Area Commands
Northern Constabulary was split into three Divisions: North, Central and East. In these three Divisions there were eight Area Commands, each with their own Area Commander. The Area Commands were:
*Caithness Sutherland & East Ross
*Orkney
*Shetland
*Ross & Cromarty
*Lochaber, Skye & Lochalsh
*Western Isles
*Inverness
*Badenoch, Strathspey & Nairn
Uniform
Until the early 21st century, the uniform consisted of a white shirt, black tie and a stab-proof vest. Northern Constabulary was the last police force in Scotland using shirts and ties. In 2009, the uniform changed to become similar to that of other police forces of Scotland: black shirt with force logo, stab-proof vest and black trousers.
Chief Constables
Chief constables were:
[ ]
*1975–1985 : Donald Burnie Henderson
*1985–1996 : Hugh MacMillan
*1996–2001 : William Robertson
*2001–2011 : Ian Latimer
*2011–2013 : George Graham
See also
*
List of defunct law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
Due to various Parliamentary Acts the numbers of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom has varied drastically since the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 set up the first modern police force in London.
There are currently over 60 law enf ...
References
External links
Official Northern Constabulary websiteOfficial Police Scotland Highlands and Islands website
{{Authority control
Defunct police forces of Scotland
Highland (council area)
Outer Hebrides
Orkney
Organisations associated with Shetland
1975 establishments in Scotland
Government agencies established in 1975
2013 disestablishments in Scotland
Government agencies disestablished in 2013
Organisations based in Inverness