His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) is a

public body A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

of the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

that reports to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

. It has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the effectiveness and efficiency of the police service in Scotland. HMICS is part of a tripartite distribution of powers for accountability for the Scottish police service. The Scottish Government has powers to make regulations for the governance and administration of the police force and the promotion of efficiency. The

Scottish Police Authority The Scottish Police Authority (SPA), (), is a public body of the UK Government which holds Police Scotland, the national police service, to account. Both bodies were established on 1 April 2013, following an announcement on 8 September 2011 in ...

is responsible for setting the budget and ensuring that best value is attained for the public purse. The chief constable is responsible for operational policing. The head of the service is HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, held by Craig Naylor since March 2022. The HMICS is based at

St Andrew's House St Andrew's House (SAH) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Taigh Naoimh Anndra''), on the southern flank of Calton Hill in central Edinburgh, is the headquarters building of the Scottish Government. The building houses offices for the First Minister and De ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and had £1.2m of funding allocated by the Scottish Government in 2013–14.

History

HMICS was established by the

Police (Scotland) Act 1857 The Police (Scotland) Act 1857 ( 20 & 21 Vict. c. 72) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Police (Scotland) Acts 1857 to 1890. The legislation made the establishment of a police force mandatory in the counties o ...

. Until 1 April 2013, HMICS was responsible for inspections of the eight Scottish territorial police forces, 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 ...

, the Scottish Criminal Record Office, 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 ...

and the Scottish Police Information Strategy. Until 1 April 2007, HMICS was also responsible for dealing with complaints against the police; since then non-criminal complaints have been dealt with by the Police Complaints Commissioner, following the passing of the

Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 The Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 10) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. The majority of the Act came into force on 1 April 2007. Amongst other provisions, the Act changed how non-criminal complaints agains ...

. HMIC has no authority to deal with complaints against chief police officers.

List of chief inspectors

* John Kinloch, 18571872 * Charles Carnegie, 18721884 * David Monro, 18841904 *

Arthur George Ferguson Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, 19041927 *

William David Allan Lieutenant-Colonel William David Allan (4 November 1879 – 9 January 1961) was a British soldier and police officer. Allan was born in Elgin, Moray, Scotland. He was educated at Elgin Academy and Blundell's School and commissioned a second ...

, 19271930 *

Robert Maxwell Dudgeon Robert Maxwell Dudgeon, CBE, DSO, MC, JP (20 February 1881 – 6 November 1962) was a Scottish soldier and policeman. The eldest son of Colonel Robert Francis Dudgeon, CB, he was educated at Uppingham School and Loretto School. Following no ...

, 19301945 *

Sidney Anderson Kinnear Sidney Anderson Kinnear, CBE (1902 – 1985) was the first HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland to come from a police''Mr. Sidney Anderson Kinnear'' The Times (London, England), Friday, Dec 28, 1945; pg. 6; Issue 50335 rather than a mil ...

, 19461957 *

Thomas Renfrew Thomas Renfrew, CBE (18 June 1901 – 17 January 1975) was HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland from 1957 to 1966. Renfrew was educated at Eastbank Academy and the University of Glasgow. He joined the City of Glasgow Police in 191 ...

, 19581966 *

Andrew Meldrum Andrew Meldrum (born 1951) is an American journalist who has concentrated on Africa and human rights. He worked in Zimbabwe for 23 years. Currently Meldrum is Global Weekend Editor for The Associated Press, working in New York. Previously he was A ...

, 19661969 * David Gray, 19701979 *

Edward Frizzell Edward Frizzell, CBE, QPM, OStJ (6 December 1918 – 25 May 1987) was HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland from 1979 to 1983. After wartime service with the RAF he joined the Paisley Burgh Police rising to the rank of Detective Ch ...

, 19791983 * Alexander Morrison, 19831990 * Colin Sampson, 19911993 * John MacInnes Boyd, 19931996 * William George MacKenzie Sutherland, 19961998 * William Taylor, 19992001 * Hugh Roy Graham Cameron, 20022004 * Andrew Gibson Brown, 20042007 * Paddy Tomkins, 20072009 *

Andrew Laing Andrew Laing (born 1966) is a New Zealand actor best known for his role as Dr. Geoff Greenlaw in the popular soap opera, ''Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitio ...

, 20102013 *George Graham, 20132014 * Derek Penman, 20142018 *Gill Imery, 2018 March 2022 *Craig Naylor, 2022–present

References

External links

* * 1857 establishments in Scotland 1857 in British law Government agencies established in 1857 Law enforcement in Scotland Ombudsmen in Scotland Government-related organisations based in Edinburgh Police misconduct in the United Kingdom Police oversight organizations Public bodies of the Scottish Government {{Scotland-law-stub

History

List of chief inspectors

See also

References

External links