Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}
{{Infobox law enforcement agency
|agencyname = Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
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|motto = Semper Vigilo
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|formedyear = 1948 (merger)
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|dissolved = 2013
|superseding = Police Scotland
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|country = Scotland
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|divtype = Area
|divname = Dumfries and Galloway
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|map = ScotlandPoliceDumfriesGalloway.png
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|sizearea = 6,426 km2
|sizepopulation = 148,000
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|headquarters = Dumfries
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|chief1name = Patrick Shearer QPM
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}}Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland until 1 April 2013.
The police force was formed in 1948 as an amalgamation of the police forces of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, and preceded the creation of the former Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council by 27 years.{{cite web|url=http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutus/history.htm|title=Our History|publisher=Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary|accessdate=2011-04-03|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030819210749/http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutus/history.htm|archivedate=19 August 2003}}
The last Chief Constable was Patrick Shearer QPM. Shearer was appointed on 24 April 2007,{{cite web|url=http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutUs/ourStaff/profiles/cc.htm|title=Profile – Chief Constable|publisher=Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary|accessdate=2011-04-03|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220180949/http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutUs/ourStaff/profiles/cc.htm|archivedate=20 December 2010}} in succession to his predecessor David Strang who was made Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police.{{cite web|url=http://www.lbp.police.uk/about/forcemanagement/chiefconstable/chiefconstable.asp|title=Chief Constable David Strang|publisher=Lothian and Borders Police|accessdate=2011-04-03|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231024332/http://www.lbp.police.uk/about/forcemanagement/chiefconstable/chiefconstable.asp|archivedate=31 December 2010}} The Deputy Chief Constable was George Graham, who took over from Robert Ovens QPM on 1 January 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutUs/ourStaff/profiles/dcc.htm|title=Profile – Deputy Chief Constable|publisher=Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary|accessdate=2011-04-03|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220161832/http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutUs/ourStaff/profiles/dcc.htm|archivedate=20 December 2010}}
An Act of the Scottish Parliament, the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, created a single Police Service of Scotland – known as Police Scotland – on 1 April 2013.[http://news.stv.tv/scotland/197532-police-scotland-name-of-new-single-police-service-unveiled/ STV News] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115105052/http://news.stv.tv/scotland/197532-police-scotland-name-of-new-single-police-service-unveiled/ |date=15 January 2013 }}, 30 October 2012 This merged the eight regional police forces in Scotland, together with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, into a single service covering the whole of Scotland.{{cite news|title=Police and fire service merger 'would save £1.7bn'|url=http://news.stv.tv/scotland/293990-bold-plans-to-merge-police-and-fire-services-unveiled/|accessdate=19 January 2012|newspaper=stv.tv|date=17 January 2012|archive-date=20 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120012800/http://news.stv.tv/scotland/293990-bold-plans-to-merge-police-and-fire-services-unveiled/|url-status=dead}} Police Scotland's interim headquarters is at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan in Fife.
Lockerbie bombing
On 21 December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded midair as a result of a bomb on board, and the wreckage crashed in the town of Lockerbie, within the police area of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary. In the UK, the event is referred to as the "Lockerbie air disaster", the "Lockerbie bombing", or simply "Lockerbie". Eleven townspeople were killed in Sherwood Crescent, where the plane's wings and fuel tanks plummeted in a fiery explosion, leaving a huge crater. The 270 fatalities (259 on the plane, 11 in Lockerbie) included citizens of 21 nations.
The subsequent police investigation, led by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, was the largest ever mounted in Scottish history and became a murder inquiry when evidence of a bomb was found. Two men accused of being Libyan intelligence agents were eventually charged in 1991 with planting the bomb. A further nine years were needed to bring the accused to trial. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was jailed for life in January 2001 following an 84-day trial, which was held at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, but under Scottish law.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1144893.stm|title=Libyan guilty of Lockerbie bombing|publisher=BBC News|date=31 January 2001|accessdate=2011-04-03}} On 20 August 2009, al-Megrahi was freed on humanitarian grounds because of an apparent terminal prostate cancer.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/8197370.stm|title=Lockerbie bomber freed from jail|publisher=BBC News|date=20 August 2009|accessdate=2011-04-03}}
Chief constables
- 1948–1965 – Sydney Arthur Berry
- 1965–1984 – Alexander Campbell
- 1984–1989 – John Boyd
- 1989–1994 – George Esson
- 1994–1996 – Roy Cameron (afterwards Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders, 1996–2002)
- 1996–2001 – William Rae
- 2001–2007 – David Strang
- 2007–2013 – Patrick ShearerGiancarlo Rinaldi, "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-21958881 The biggest cases of Scotland's smallest police force]", BBC News, 1 April 2013, Retrieved 1 April 2013
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051221124226/http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/ Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary]
{{UK home nations police forces}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Dumfries and Galloway
Category:Defunct police forces of Scotland
Category:Government agencies established in 1948
Category:1948 establishments in Scotland