City of Glasgow Police
The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the
It is sometimes described as the first modern-style municipal police force, although due to the original Glasgow Police's small size and varied duties in 1779, they also fought fires, called the hours, and swept the streets, similar to the older city watchmen.[1] This title was previously claimed by the London Metropolitan Police. However, following formal enforcement action by the Advertising Standards Authority, the Metropolitan Police gave a written undertaking never to repeat this claim again.[2] Even "The Spectator" magazine gets this wrong - an article[3] by Dot Wordsworth claims that the "Marine Police force" in London was in 1798 the first force in Britain called police to keep law and order, and the magazine has for many years failed to correct this error.
Beginnings
Source:[4]
In 1779,
The Bailies displayed vision and innovation in setting out their proposals insisting that the force would be run by a
The policemen they envisaged would not be mere watchmen and what they had written down was the concept of "Preventive Policing", 40 years before
During the following eleven years, Glasgow City fathers tried to get their Police Bill before
City of Glasgow Police established by act of Parliament
On 29 September 1800, John Stenhouse, a city merchant, was appointed Master of Police and he set about organising and recruiting the force. He appointed three
It was from these modest beginnings that the Glasgow Police embarked on more than 200 years of service to the City.
19th century
In 1819 Lieutenant Peter McKinlay was appointed as Criminal Officer, Glasgow's first Detective. In 1846 the Glasgow Police merged with the Gorbals, Calton and Anderston Burgh Police. As a result of this, Glasgow Police divided into four Divisions and now numbered 360 officers. New uniforms were issued in 1849, which consisted of a better quality top hat, three-quarter length dress coats with standing collar and nine buttons.
Electric telegraph adopted for communication between offices and other police forces in 1861 and in 1878, a horse drawn van was introduced for conveying prisoners.
Due to the City of Glasgow Act 1891, the City boundaries were extended to the south, north and west sides of the city. Due to the extension, a system of 14 cast iron Police Signal boxes was installed in the outlying areas. By 1900, the City of Glasgow Police numbered 1355 officers and men.[6]
20th century
In 1904 the force appointed its first
On 5 November 1912, by
In the
The force discussed the appointment of Policewomen and on 6 September,
In January 1919, thousands of striking shipyard and engineering workers marched on the Corporation Power Station in Eddington Street,
In 1931, cuts in Government benefits lead to marches by the unemployed and riots in Glasgow Green, Saltmarket, and Jail Square. Fifty-one men were arrested.
Glasgow's first radio patrol car system was put into operation in May 1936.[7]
In 1939, on the outbreak of the
In 1975, the City of Glasgow Police,
In 2013, Police Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Poileas Alba; Scots: Polis Scotland) – legally named the Police Service of Scotland – the national police force of Scotland - was formed with the merger of the eight regional police forces in Scotland
Marine Police
The River Clyde Police were established in 1858 and were responsible for policing the Clyde up to the Tail of the Bank.[10] They were merged into the Marine Police division of the City of Glasgow Police in 1866, and wore a small anchor on their collar. The cost of the division was borne by the Clyde Navigation Trust.[11][12]
Chief Constables
- 1800-1803 : John Stenhouse (Master of Police)
- 1803-1805 : Walter Graham
- 1805-1821 : James Mitchell
- 1821-1825 : James Hardie (Superintendent)
- 1825-1832 : John Graham
- 1832-1833 : F.G. Denovan
- 1833-1836 : John Watson
- 1836-1844 : Henry Miller
- 1844-1847 : Archibald Wilson
- 1847-1848 : William Henry Pearce (Chief Superintendent)
- 1848 : Henry Miller
- 1848-1870 : James Smart (Chief Constable)
- 1870-1888 : Alexander McCall
- 1888-1902 : John Boyd
- 1902-1922 : James V. Stevenson
- 1922-1931 : Andrew D. Smith
- 1931-1943 : Percy Sillitoe
- 1943 : David Warnock
- 1943-1960 : Malcolm McCulloch
- 1960-1971 : James A. Robertson
- 1971-1975 : David McNee[13]
Footnotes
- ^ R. S. Bunyard, Police: Organisation and Command, Macdonald & Evans: Plymouth, 1978
- ^ "Metropolitan Police's proud boast sets off police alarm in Glasgow". The Times. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "Istanbul Polis". The Times. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ Goldsmith, Alistair (2002). The development of the city of Glasgow police c.1800 - c.1939. Strathclyde University: University of Strathclyde.
- ^ "First 100 Years – Glasgow Police Museum".
- ^ "First 100 Years – Glasgow Police Museum".
- ^ "Into the 20th Century – Glasgow Police Museum".
- The Glasgow Herald. 7 June 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
- ^ "Last 30 Years – Glasgow Police Museum".
- ^ "River Clyde Police Force (MS Murray 594 Item: fol. 6)". Website of the University of Glasgow Library. University of Glasgow Library. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "River Clyde Police Force". Website of the University of Glasgow Library. University of Glasgow Library. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "THE FIRST 100 YEARS". Website of the Glasgow Police Historical Society. Glasgow Police Historical Society. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "Chief Constables of Glasgow – Glasgow Police Museum".
See also
- Police
- Police Scotland
- Strathclyde Police
- Marine Police Force, founded 1798