Northern Constabulary Poileas a' Chinn a Tuath | |
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![]() Northern Constabulary patch | |
Motto | Dion is Cuidich (Gaelic) Protect and Serve |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 16 May, 1975 (merger) |
Dissolved | 2013 (amalgamation) |
Superseding agency | Police Service of Scotland |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Highland, Western Isles, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, UK |
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Map of Northern Constabulary's jurisdiction | |
Size | 31,186 km² |
Population | approx. 300,000 |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Inverness |
Sworn members | Approx 715 |
Agency executive |
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Divisions or Area Commands | 8 |
Facilities | |
Stations | 71 |
Website | |
www |
The Northern Constabulary (Scottish Gaelic : Poileas a' Chinn a Tuath) was the territorial police force responsible for Northern Scotland, covering the Highland council area along with the Western Isles, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands, which make up most of the Highlands and Islands area. It was the police force covering the largest geographical area in the United Kingdom, equivalent to the size of Belgium, but was one of the smallest in terms of officers, with about 715 officers. [1] The Constabulary was one of those amalgamated to form Police Scotland in 2013.
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 (a merger of Inverness Burgh Police and Inverness-shire Constabulary), along with the northernmost portion of the Argyll County Police 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.
The new Northern Constabulary was created at the same time as local government reorganisation created the Highland regional 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, and the rest of the Scottish North East Counties Constabulary into the Grampian Police.
The Northern Constabulary area was the same as that covered by the Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service.
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, the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, created a single Police Service of Scotland - known as Police Scotland - with effect from 1 April 2013. [2] This merged the eight regional police forces in Scotland (including Northern Constabulary), together with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, into a single service covering the whole of Scotland. [3] Police Scotland has its headquarters at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan in Fife.
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. [4] The Area Commands were:
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 were: [5]
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It shares borders with the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray and Perth and Kinross. Their councils, and those of Angus and Stirling, also have areas of the Scottish Highlands within their administrative boundaries.
The shires of Scotland, or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes, from the 17th century they started to be used for local administration purposes as well. The areas used for judicial functions (sheriffdoms) came to diverge from the shires, which ceased to be used for local government purposes after 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
Ross, Skye and Lochaber is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood), in use between 1999 and 2011. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it was one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides.
Ross, Skye and Inverness West was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It was one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Argyll and Bute is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of Argyll and Bute. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Moray is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of Moray. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies within the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Orkney is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Orkney. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Shetland is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Shetland. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Na h-Eileanan an Iar, formerly the Western Isles, is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Na h-Eileanan Siar. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The Crofters' Party was the parliamentary arm of the Highland Land League. It managed to elect five MPs in the 1885 general election and a sixth the following year.
A local enterprise company (LEC) is a public-sector organisation in Scotland with responsibility for local economic development activities. The LECs form part of the two enterprise networks, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
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Caithness, Sutherland and Ross is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering the northern part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Inverness and Nairn is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, as well as eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
A sheriffdom is a judicial district of Scotland. Originally identical to the Shires of Scotland, from the eighteenth century many counties were grouped to form "sheriffdoms".
The Sheriff of Caithness was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order in Caithness, Scotland.