Strathclyde Police facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Strathclyde Police |
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| Motto | Keeping People Safe (2009 – 2013) |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1975 (merger) |
| Dissolved | 1 April 2013 |
| Superseding agency | Police Scotland |
| Annual budget | £638.96 Million (2009–2010) |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Argyll and Bute, Glasgow City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, UK |
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| Map of Strathclyde Police's jurisdiction | |
| Size | 13,624 km² |
| Population | Approx 2.3 million |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Glasgow |
| Sworn members | 8110 full time police officers, 601 special constables (June 2011) |
| Unsworn members | 2474 civilian police staff (June 2011) |
| Divisions | 8 |
| Facilities | |
| Stations | 115 |
| Helicopters | 1 |
Strathclyde Police was a major police force in Scotland. It was in charge of keeping people safe in a large area. This area included cities like Glasgow and many surrounding regions. The force operated from 1975 until 2013.
Strathclyde Police was the largest police force in Scotland. It had the most staff and served the biggest population. In 2013, all eight regional police forces in Scotland joined together. They formed a single national police service called Police Scotland. This change happened on April 1, 2013.
The police force was even shown on TV! It was featured in the popular Scottish detective show Taggart.
Contents
How Strathclyde Police Started
The Strathclyde Police force was created on May 16, 1975. This happened when local governments in Scotland were reorganized. The police area matched the new Strathclyde region. This region itself was later divided into smaller areas in 1996.
Strathclyde Police was formed by combining several older police forces. These included:
- City of Glasgow Police
- Paisley Burgh Police
- Lanarkshire Constabulary
- Renfrew & Bute Constabulary
- Dunbartonshire Constabulary
- Argyll County Police
- Ayrshire Constabulary
- A small part of Stirling and Clackmannan Police
How the Force Was Organized
The police force was led by a Chief Constable. In 2012, the Chief Constable had a Deputy Chief Constable and three Assistant Chief Constables helping them.
From 2007 until it closed, the force had eight main divisions. These were called Territorial Divisions. They also had a Headquarters Division, a Support Services Division, and a Road Policing Division. Each Territorial Division was led by a Chief Superintendent. These divisions were then split into smaller Sub Divisions. Some of these smaller areas had an Area Commander in charge. There were 33 such Area Commands in total.
Main Police Divisions
Here are the main areas covered by the Territorial Divisions:
- A Division – Glasgow Central and West
- B Division – Glasgow North East and East Dunbartonshire
- G Division – Glasgow South and East Renfrewshire
- K Division – Renfrewshire and Inverclyde
- L Division – Argyll, Bute and West Dunbartonshire
- N Division – North Lanarkshire
- Q Division – South Lanarkshire
- U Division – Ayrshire
In 2005, Strathclyde Police started something new called the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). This unit worked to bring communities and other groups together. Their goal was to understand and stop the causes of violence. The VRU's successful work later spread across all of Scotland.
Police Uniform and Equipment
When Strathclyde Police started in 1975, their uniform was like the old City of Glasgow Police uniform. Officers wore an open-necked jacket, trousers, a white shirt, and a black tie. By 1995, the jackets were replaced. Officers started wearing a blue wool jumper and a utility belt.
Police officers wore special hats. Men wore a peaked cap, and women wore a round, bowler-style hat. Both hats had a black and white checkered pattern called Sillitoe tartan. They also had the standard Scottish Police badge.
Over the years, the uniform changed. Stab vests, which protect officers, were introduced in the early 2000s. The blue jumpers were changed to black around the same time. In 2003, the shirts and ties were replaced. Officers began wearing black short-sleeved T-shirts that helped keep them cool. These shirts had "POLICE" written on the sleeves.
Officers wore a stab vest over their T-shirt for all duties. These vests had blue and white reflective bands. They also had the force's badge and a "POLICE" patch on the back. Officers also wore a black fleece jacket over their body armour. They had fluorescent jackets for bad weather and waterproof trousers.
Each officer carried personal equipment on a Police duty belt. This included handcuffs, a police baton, and CS spray. They also carried a small first aid kit, a torch, and leg restraints. Officers used Motorola radios to communicate.
This style of uniform was later adopted by all police forces in Scotland. It is still used by Police Scotland today.
Strathclyde Police also had Scotland's only police helicopter. It was a Eurocopter EC 135T2+ and was based at the Glasgow City Heliport. The helicopter was painted in bright blue and yellow colors.
Headquarters Building
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The main building for Strathclyde Police was on Pitt Street in Glasgow. This building was quite old, built in 1934. It was first used as a college. Before the force closed, there were plans to move the headquarters to a new location in Dalmarnock.
The Pitt Street headquarters building was taken down in early 2019.
Chief Constables
The Chief Constable was the top leader of the Strathclyde Police force. Here are the people who held this important role:
- 1975–1977 : Sir David McNee
- 1977–1985 : Sir Patrick Hamill
- 1985–1991 : Sir Andrew Kirkpatrick Sloan
- 1991–1995 : Sir Leslie Sharpe
- 1996–2001 : Sir John Orr
- 2001–2007 : Sir William Rae
- 2007–2012 : Sir Stephen House
- 2012-2013 : Campbell Corrigan
Key Achievements
Between 2009 and 2010, Strathclyde Police focused on important areas to make communities safer.
They worked hard on reducing violence and disorder. During this time, serious crimes like murder went down by 26%. Attempted murder also decreased by 15%. The police also issued 45,000 fixed penalty notices for minor disorder.
Strathclyde Police Pipe Band
Strathclyde Police had a very famous pipe band. This band was formed from pipers and drummers from several police forces. Under the leadership of Pipe Major Ian MacLellan, the band became incredibly successful. They won the World Pipe Band Championships 12 times! This made them the most successful competing pipe band ever.
Even though Strathclyde Police was disbanded in 2013, the band continued to compete. It was known as the Greater Glasgow Police Scotland Pipe Band until 2021.
