Area covered |
|
| Area | Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, Scottish Borders |
|---|---|
| Size | 6,453 km² |
| Population | 920,164 (2007) |
| Operations | |
| Formed | 16 May 1975 |
| HQ | Fettes, Edinburgh |
| Budget | £207.3m (2007/2008) |
| Officers | 2,905 (2008) |
| Divisions | 4 |
| Stations | 51 |
| Chief Constable | David Strang |
| Website | www.lbp.police.uk |
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.
Contents |
The Lothian and Borders Police area stretches from Blackridge 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
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 covers the area of East Lothian, and Midlothian, and stretches from the Edinburgh City Bypass to Dunbar in the east. The headquarters of E Division is Dalkeith police station.
F Division, is situated to the West of Edinburgh and covers from the City boundaries to Fauldhouse 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 is the largest territorial division in Lothian and Borders Police and covers the Scottish Borders. 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
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.
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).
Provides IT support & development to all aspects of the Force.
All applicants to the force as with all Scottish Police Forces must attend an initial 13 week basic training course at the Scottish Police College 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.