Lothian and Borders Police
Encyclopedia
Lothian and Borders Police is the territorial police force
for the Scottish
council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian
, Midlothian
, Scottish Borders
and West Lothian
. The force's headquarters are in Fettes Avenue, Edinburgh
.
Lothian and Borders Police was formed on 16 May 1975 by an amalgamation of Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk Constabulary, Edinburgh City Police and The Lothians and Peebles Constabulary.
The force has 2,905 officers and 1,384 support staff as of March 2008. The Chief Constable
is David Strang who replaced Paddy Tomkins
on 29 March 2007.
A low point for the force was the Fettesgate
scandal in the early 1990s, when confidential documents were stolen from the headquarters building. They have since policed major events like the European summit of December 1992 and the Make Poverty History
demonstration
in July 2005.
in the west to Newcastleton
in the south. It is split into four territorial divisions:
A Division: City of Edinburgh
E Division: East Lothian
, Midlothian
F Division: West Lothian
G Division: Scottish Borders
, and Midlothian
, and stretches from the Edinburgh City Bypass to Dunbar
in the east. The headquarters of E Division is Dalkeith
police station.
in the west. The headquarters is based in Livingston.
The division’s officers are sometimes referred to as “F Troop”, although this is regarded as offensive as “F Troop” was originally a comedy set in the old west of America (first shown 14 September 1965) that followed a group of misfit cavalrymen in the U.S. Army.
. It is approximately twice the size of all the other divisions combined, and borders England
in the South. This is a predominantly rural area featuring rolling country side and isolated population areas. The headquarters is based in Hawick
.
Non territorial divisions provide more specialist roles to the entire force, and provide administration functions:
H Personnel Department
J Secondments
M Corporate Development Department
N Criminal Justice Administration Department
O Operations/FCC
P Training/Career Development Department
S Finance Department
T Safer Communities Department
U I.T. Department
V Corporate Communications Department
W Complaints and Conduct Department
X Criminal Investigation Department
Z Central Services Department
based at Tulliallan Castle
, Kincardine on Forth.
This course provides a basic grounding in policing in Scotland.
Following the 13 week course officers are returned to their forces to continue training. Around the one year point of service, officers re-attend the College to complete a further two day course and assessment period. After a further year officers are assessed on their abilities and 'confirmed' in their role should they meet the required standard. Training from initial course to confirmation takes a minimum of two years.
Officers transferring from other Scottish forces are not required to attend the college, unlike those transferring from the rest of the United Kingdom, who are required to attend a shortened course to learn Scottish Law due to legal differences.
Territorial police force
The phrase Territorial Police Force varies in precise meaning according to the country to which it is related, generally distinguishing a force whose area of responsibility is defined by sub-national boundaries from others which deal with the entire country or a restricted range of...
for the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
, Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
and West Lothian
West Lothian
West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....
. The force's headquarters are in Fettes Avenue, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
Lothian and Borders Police was formed on 16 May 1975 by an amalgamation of Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk Constabulary, Edinburgh City Police and The Lothians and Peebles Constabulary.
The force has 2,905 officers and 1,384 support staff as of March 2008. The Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
is David Strang who replaced Paddy Tomkins
Paddy Tomkins
Paddy Tomkins QPM was appointed HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland by Royal Warrant in March 2007. He was formerly the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police, which he joined in 2002 and was succeeded by David Strang. He initially joined Sussex Police in 1979 and in 1993...
on 29 March 2007.
A low point for the force was the Fettesgate
Fettesgate
Fettesgate was the term given to a major scandal involving the Lothian and Borders Police force in the 1990s, from its Fettes Avenue headquarters near Fettes College in Edinburgh....
scandal in the early 1990s, when confidential documents were stolen from the headquarters building. They have since policed major events like the European summit of December 1992 and the Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...
demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
in July 2005.
Divisions
The Lothian and Borders Police area stretches from BlackridgeBlackridge
Blackridge may refer to:Scotland* Blackridge, West LothianUnited States* Blackridge, Pennsylvania...
in the west to Newcastleton
Newcastleton
Newcastleton, or Copshaw Holm is a village in the Scottish Borders, a few miles from the border of Scotland with England. The village is in Liddesdale and is on the Liddel Water, and is the site of Hermitage Castle.-History:...
in the south. It is split into four territorial divisions:
A Division: City of Edinburgh
E Division: East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
F Division: West Lothian
West Lothian
West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....
G Division: Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
A Division
A Division was created in 2002 following the amalgamation of the City of Edinburgh's three previous divisions. Its headquarters is St Leonards Police Station.E Division
E Division covers the area of East LothianEast Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, and Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
, and stretches from the Edinburgh City Bypass to Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
in the east. The headquarters of E Division is Dalkeith
Dalkeith
Dalkeith is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the River North Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540...
police station.
F Division
F Division, is situated to the West of Edinburgh and covers from the City boundaries to FauldhouseFauldhouse
Fauldhouse is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.-History:Fauldhouse is known since the Middle Ages, and was known until the 19th century by the names "Falas" or latterly "Fallas." The seventeenth century Dutch mapmaker Willem Blaeu features...
in the west. The headquarters is based in Livingston.
The division’s officers are sometimes referred to as “F Troop”, although this is regarded as offensive as “F Troop” was originally a comedy set in the old west of America (first shown 14 September 1965) that followed a group of misfit cavalrymen in the U.S. Army.
G Division
G Division is the largest territorial division in Lothian and Borders Police and covers the Scottish BordersScottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
. It is approximately twice the size of all the other divisions combined, and borders England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the South. This is a predominantly rural area featuring rolling country side and isolated population areas. The headquarters is based in Hawick
Hawick
Hawick is a town in the Scottish Borders of south east Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. Hawick's architecture is...
.
Non territorial divisions provide more specialist roles to the entire force, and provide administration functions:
H Personnel Department
J Secondments
M Corporate Development Department
N Criminal Justice Administration Department
O Operations/FCC
P Training/Career Development Department
S Finance Department
T Safer Communities Department
U I.T. Department
V Corporate Communications Department
W Complaints and Conduct Department
X Criminal Investigation Department
Z Central Services Department
X Division
Provides investigative support to the entire force. While detectives may be allocated to assist other divisions as their main role as detectives, they can be pooled to provide assistance whether their specialist skills are required. Also known as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) they are the detectives of the force and investigate major crimes as well as everyday crimes such as housebreaking and robberies.O Division
Provides specialist operations support to the force. It is predominantly made up of the Roads Policing Units (traffic) which are based at the headquarters of each division. They also provide specialist Firearms and Public Order (Riot Police) support to all divisions. Also within O Division are the forces Dog Handlers. O Division also includes The Force Communications Centre (FCC).Training
All applicants to the force as with all Scottish Police Forces must attend an initial 13 week basic training course at the Scottish Police CollegeScottish Police College
The Scottish Police College, based at Tulliallan Castle, in Kincardine-on-Forth, provides basic training to all new recruits to the Scottish Police Forces....
based at Tulliallan Castle
Tulliallan Castle
Tulliallan Castle is a large house in Kincardine, Fife, Scotland.It is the second structure to have the name , and is a mixture of Gothic and Italian style architecture set amid some of parkland just north of where the Kincardine Bridge spans the Firth of Forth...
, Kincardine on Forth.
This course provides a basic grounding in policing in Scotland.
Following the 13 week course officers are returned to their forces to continue training. Around the one year point of service, officers re-attend the College to complete a further two day course and assessment period. After a further year officers are assessed on their abilities and 'confirmed' in their role should they meet the required standard. Training from initial course to confirmation takes a minimum of two years.
Officers transferring from other Scottish forces are not required to attend the college, unlike those transferring from the rest of the United Kingdom, who are required to attend a shortened course to learn Scottish Law due to legal differences.
See also
- Association of Chief Police Officers in ScotlandAssociation of Chief Police Officers in ScotlandThe Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is the collective organisation of Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables and Assistant Chief Constables from the eight Police forces in Scotland....
- Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency
- Scottish Police CollegeScottish Police CollegeThe Scottish Police College, based at Tulliallan Castle, in Kincardine-on-Forth, provides basic training to all new recruits to the Scottish Police Forces....
- Lothian & Borders Police Pipe BandLothian & Borders Police Pipe BandThe Lothian and Borders Police Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band based in Edinburgh, Scotland.- History :The band can trace its origins back to 1882, after the Lord Provost's Committee suggested in February of the same year that a police band be formed...