Strathclyde Police
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| Strathclyde Police | |
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| Coverage | |
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 Strathclyde Police area |
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| Area | Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire |
| Size | 13,624 km² |
| Population | Approx 2.3 million |
| Operations | |
| Formed | 1975 (merger) |
| HQ | 173 Pitt Street, Glasgow |
| Budget | £550 Million (2006-2007) |
| Officers | 7,600 & 3000 Police Staff |
| Divisions | 8 |
| Stations | 115 |
| Chief Constable | Stephen House QPM |
| Website | Force web site |
Strathclyde Police is the police force for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire. The Police Authority contains members from each of these authorities[1]. Until 1996 the area was part of the region of Strathclyde.
It is the largest of the eight Scottish police forces, and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. The area it covers is the third largest police area in the United Kingdom, after the areas covered by the Scottish Northern Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Strathclyde Police Force was originally defined as covering the area of the former Strathclyde Regional Council, which was abolished in 1996.
In 2005, Strathclyde Police established its groundbreaking Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). The first of its kind in the UK, the unit was set up to bring together communities and agencies to tackle the root causes of violence. The work of the VRU has now been extended throughout the whole of Scotland.
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[edit] Personnel
The Forces Senior Management Team as of 9 November 2008 are as follows:
- Chief Constable
- Stephen House QPM
- Deputy Chief Constable
- Neil Richardson
- Assistant Chief Constable (Community Safety and Criminal Justice)
- John Neilson
- Assistant Chief Constable (Crime)
- Campbell Corrigan
- Acting Assistant Chief Constable (Operational Support)
- James Green QPM
- Acting Assistant Chief Constable (Personnel)
- Hamish Cormack
- Director of Legal Services
- Ian McPherson LLB NP
- Director of Finance and Resources
- Allan Macleod BA (Hons), MBA, CPFA
[edit] History
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2006) |
Strathclyde Police was created on May 16, 1975 from the merger of several police services:
- City of Glasgow Police
- Lanarkshire Constabulary
- Renfrew & Bute Constabulary
- Dunbartonshire Constabulary
- Argyll County Police
- Ayrshire Constabulary
- small portion of Stirling and Clackmannan Police
[edit] Organisation
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2006) |
Since the 23rd of October 2007 the Force has been organised into 8 Territorial Divisions (designated A,B,G,K,L,N,Q & U Divisions), a Headquarters Division (H), a Support Services Division (V) and a Road Policing Division (T).
The Force is commanded by a Chief Constable, supported by a Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) and 4 Assistant Chief Constables (ACC).
In 2006/7 the Force recorded 426,018 crimes and offences, 1.7% down from the previous year. Of these 324,763 were detected, 3.3% down from the previous year. The overall detection rate was 69.1%, down 1.2% from the previous year.
In 2006/7 there were 77 recorded murders/culpable homicides (detection rate 98.75), 374 attempt murders (detection rate 76.5%)and 4,434 serious assaults (detection rate 45.2%. The murder rate was up 2.9%, the attempt murder rate was down 0.8% and the serious assault rate was up 0.3% from 2005/6.
In 2006/7 there were 92 road traffic deaths, a reduction from the 100 deaths in 2005/6. The total number of recorded road crashes was 19,502; of which 88 involved fatalities and 905 were serious.
The type of crime least likely to be detected is theft from an insecure motor vehicle at 8.9%.
The Force has a revenue budget of £550 million. (2006-7)
The Territorial Divisions are commanded by an officer of Chief Superintendent rank supported by their deputy who holds the rank of Superintendent. These Divisions are further sub divided into a number of Sub Divisions, generally 3, which are commanded by a Sub Divisional Officer (S.D.O.) of Superintendent rank supported by a Deputy Sub Divisional Officer (D.S.D.O.) of Chief Inspector Rank. The exception to this is LB Sub Division which covers the Argyll area. There is a Superintendent based at Dunoon with three Chief Inspectors designated as Deputy Sub Divisional Officer, they are based at the three main stations (Oban, Dunoon and Campbeltown), the latter also covering Lochgilphead.
Strathclyde police currently employ approximately 7,600 police officers and nearly 3,000 police staff. Individually designated as members of police staff (MOPS) Their jobs range from drivers to computer technicians and everything in-between, such as vehicle technicians, communications operators, word processor operators, police custody and security officers and specialised posts in Information Technology and Forensic Science although the specialised posts will be shortly transferring to the Scottish Police Services Authority.
The force also currently employ over 100 police cadets who work initially inside the police office helping members of the public with their enquiries, they also go on secondments to other departments within the force, such as, the mounted branch, CID, dog branch and road policing. As of March 2008 the cadet scheme has been closed and is no longer accepting applications.
Full details are available in the Public Performance Report 2006-7, which can be downloaded from the Strathclyde Police website.
The force features in the TV detective series Taggart.
[edit] Uniform
From the formation of Strathclyde Police in 1975 to 1994 the uniform was similar to the uniform prevously used by the City of Glasgow Police. This changed to a shirt, tie and wooly jumper for a few years until the present all-black uniform with no tie was introduced in 2002.
The current all-black uniform is composed of a black short sleeved 'wicking' top, with a zip up round neck style, Police in white is displayed on both sleeves and epaulette straps on each shoulder for the affixing of Divisional identifier number and insignia of rank. Trousers are of a cargo pocket style i.e. two thigh pockets and two conventional side and rear pockets. Worn over the wicking top on all operational duties is body armour supplied by Highmark Ltd, which is composed of four armour panels protecting the front and rear of the torso and the shoulder area. These panels are stored in a black sleeveless cover, which is secured by a waist velcro belt and two zips located on each side of the body. The insignia of Strathclyde Police http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44536000/jpg/_44536400_uniform226170.jpg is sown on the left breast of this garment.Service medal ribbons such as the Police Long Service and Good Conduct medal and/or the Queen's Jubilee Medal can be worn on the left breast of this cover and gallantry ribbons on the right breast. All officers wear a uniform cap, a soft skipped hat for males, or a round reinforced bowler style for females. Both types of hat have the familiar police checkerboard design and the standard Scottish Police cap badge in metal for the ranks of Constable or Sergeant or embroidered for Inspectors and above.
The addition of an officers utility belt holding their personal issue protective equipment i.e. Kwikcuffs, 22" Autolock baton with a Hindi cap, and CS incapacitant spray completes the basic uniform of the force.
A black zip up fleece style jacket is issued to all officers which can be worn over the body armour to keep officers warm. Waterproof jackets in two styles are also provided, all black, and fluorescent, both are zip and stud fastening. Black waterproof trousers also issued as well as black leather gloves (Constables and Sergeants) or brown leather gloves (Inspectors and above).
No footwear is issued to the Force's officers except for those in a few specialist roles such as Public Order officers.
[edit] References
- ^ Statutory Instrument 1995 No. 2642Strathclyde Combined Police Area Amalgamation Scheme 1995
2. Public Performance Report 2006-7.
[edit] External links
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