The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) was a

special police force Special police usually describes a police force or unit within a police force whose duties and responsibilities are significantly different from other forces in the same country or from other police in the same force, although there is no consiste ...

of Scotland responsible for disrupting and dismantling serious

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

groups. The Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) was established on 1 April 2001, becoming the SCDEA in 2006 and was incorporated into Police Scotland on 1 April 2013. Th
Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006
put the SDEA on a statutory footing and renamed it as the ''Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency'', funded through the

Scottish Police Services Authority The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) was a public body of the Scottish Government responsible for certain central services for police forces in Scotland. It was established on 1 April 2007, following the passing of the Police, Public O ...

. Despite its title, it was formally not a police agency but a police force, whose officers are constables having the same powers as their

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

counterparts. It worked alongside other Scottish police forces and was answerable to the Scottish Government through the

. The Director of the agency was responsible to Scottish Ministers and the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

for financial and

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

matters. Some functions were shared with the Home Office

Serious Organised Crime Agency The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship ...

(SOCA), but SOCA required permission from the SCDEA or the

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

to conduct certain operations. 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 success ...

, the

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. This legislation merged the eight separate police forces and fire and rescue services in Scotland, plus several central agencies, into single agencies covering t ...

, created a single Police Service of Scotland – to be 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, together with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, 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 ...

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. The SCDEA was headed by a Director General and Deputy Director General, who as members of the

Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) was the professional voice of police leadership ( Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables and Assistant Chief Constables) in Scotland, including the Assistant Chief Constable in the Br ...

formed the core of the Policy Group (the Executive of the SCDEA.)

Units

The SCDEA had created several units and officials responsible for expanding its role in preventing serious crime in Scotland: * Drugs Strategy Unit * Scottish Money Laundering Unit * Scottish Witness Protection Unit * e-crime Unit (Scotland)

References

External links

Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement AgencyAssociation of Chief Police Officers in ScotlandPolicy Memorandum explaining future changes
{{Authority control Government agencies established in 2001 2001 establishments in Scotland Law enforcement agencies of Scotland Defunct police forces of Scotland Scottish criminal law Organised crime in Scotland Operations against organized crime Drugs in Scotland Public bodies of the Scottish Government 2001 in British law 2013 disestablishments in Scotland Government agencies disestablished in 2013 Organisations based in Renfrewshire Paisley, Renfrewshire

Units

See also

References

External links