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Police Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (Seirbheis Phoilis na h-Alba), [7] is the national police force of Scotland.It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottish Police Services Authority, including the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.
The police in Scotland have powers under various pieces of legislation to search individuals for prohibited items, weapons, and stolen property. This is commonly known as "stop and search". Prior to 11 May 2017, officers were able to stop and search any person who consented to a search without requiring any grounds to suspect that person of ...
One of the key provisions of the legislation includes clear responsibilities for the chief constable and, to ensure continued separation from ministers, a new Scottish Police Authority with 11 to 15 members and a remit to hold the chief constable to account. The Scottish Police Authority is responsible for maintaining the police service.
Police Scotland: Sergeant and constable: Division letter and three or four digits; Special constable: Division letter and four digits, the first digit being a 7; In the Metropolitan Police, the borough code is a two-letter code which follows the digits (but displayed above them on epaulettes).
In 2013, the 8 territorial police forces in Scotland were merged into a single Scottish police force, named "The Police Service of Scotland", or colloquially Police Scotland. Merging these forces had been first mooted in 2010, and was supported by the Scottish National Party , Scottish Labour Party and Scottish Conservative Party ahead of the ...
The Scottish Police Federation represents 16,500 rank-and-file police officers in Scotland.
In Scotland, virtually all prosecution of criminal offences is undertaken by the Crown. Private prosecutions are extremely rare. The Service's jurisdiction covers all of Scotland, and includes investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, sudden or suspicious deaths, and criminal conduct by the police.
Police authorities in England and Wales were abolished in November 2012, and replaced with directly elected police and crime commissioners, and those in Scotland were merged in April 2013 to form the Scottish Police Authority as part of the creation of Police Scotland, the single police force for Scotland.