Fife Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. The area policed by Fife Constabulary had a resident population of just over 350,000, almost a third of whom lived in one of the three principal towns of

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

and Glenrothes. The force was established in 1949 following the amalgamation of the originally independent Fife County, Dunfermline City and Kirkcaldy Burgh police forces. Then the number of Police Officers totalled 345, supported by 26 civilian staff. During 1949, officers dealt with 7,492 crimes and offences. At dissolution the force had 1027 Officers, who were assisted by 119 Special Constables and approximately 538 support staff. Fife Constabulary dealt with around 65,000 crimes and offences annually. The Chief Constable was responsible for ensuring that the deployment and organisation of personnel is consistent with the demands on the Force. Operational resources were allocated according to the needs of local communities and are complemented by professional administrative and support staff. An

Act of the Scottish Parliament An act of the Scottish Parliament () is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the successful 1997 Scottish devolution ref ...

, the ''Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012'', created a single Police Service of Scotland – to be known as

Police Scotland Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), 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 Scottis ...

– with effect from 1 April 2013. This will merge the eight regional police forces in Scotland (including Fife Constabulary), together with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, into a single service covering the whole of Scotland. Police Scotland has its headquarters at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan in

Divisions

Fife Constabulary was divided into three Territorial Divisions. Western Division had a population of approximately 133,000 and its Divisional HQ in

. It contained the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan Castle, Kincardine-on-Forth. Central Division was the smallest of the three Divisions but the most densely populated with 148,000 residents, and Divisional HQ in

. Eastern Division was the largest of the three but had the smallest population of some 69,000. Major concentrations of population are Cupar, home to the Divisional HQ, and

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

. Western and Central Divisions were headed by a Chief Superintendent and a Superintendent, and Eastern Division by a Superintendent and a Chief Inspector.

Force Headquarters

The majority of Fife Constabulary's departments and specialist units were based at modern, purpose-built Headquarters, situated at Detroit Road in Viewfield, Glenrothes which were opened on 25 March 1996. They replaced the previous building at Dysart which had been the HQ since 1975. The building includes modern office accommodation, training facilities, lecture theatre, library, garage & communications workshops, television studio, gymnasium, and an indoor firearms range. In 2004, a new Contact Centre was opened on the Headquarters campus, enabling the Force to bring together under one roof the call handling and despatching services which had previously been dispersed across Police stations in Fife.

Regional police stations

Fife Constabulary also had police stations in Aberdour,

Anstruther Anstruther ( ; ) is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester, which are divided by a st ...

Auchtermuchty Auchtermuchty ( ; , 'upland of the pigs/boar') is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is beside Pitlour Hill and north of Glenrothes. History Until 1975 Auchtermuchty was a royal burgh, established under charter of James V of Scotland, King Jame ...

, Ballingry,

Burntisland Burntisland ( , ) is a former Royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. It was previously known as Wester Kinghorn or Little Kinghorn. The town has a population of 6,269 (2011). Burntisland is known ...

, Cardenden,

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

, Cupar,

Dalgety Bay Dalgety Bay () is a coastal town and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, 9 miles from Edinburgh city centre. It is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is connected to Inverkeithing to the West. The civil pa ...

, Glenrothes,

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; ) is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh city centre and south of Dunfermline. A town of ancient origin, Inverke ...

, Kelty, Kennoway, Kincardine, Leven,

Levenmouth Levenmouth is a conurbation comprising a network of settlements on the north side of the Firth of Forth, in Fife on the east coast of Scotland. It consists of three principal coastal towns; Leven, Fife, Leven, Buckhaven, and Methil, and a number ...

, Lochgelly, Newmills, Fife Oakley,

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

Tayport Tayport, also known as Ferry-Port-on-Craig, is a town in Fife, Scotland. It lies on the Firth of Tay opposite Broughty Ferry, a suburb of Dundee. The two were linked by a ferry service until 1939. To the east of Tayport is the vast Tentsmuir ...

and Wormit.

Chief Constables

*1949–1955 : Sir John Inch *1955–1966 : Andrew Meldrum *<1971–1984 : Robert Fraser Murison *?–1996 William MacDougal Moodie *1996–2000 : John Hamilton *2001–2008 : Peter Wilson *2008–2012 : Norma Graham *2012–2013 : Andrew Barker

Trivia

*Traffic Officers from the Force made an appearance on the UK motoring show '' Top Gear'', during the Caterham Challenge, pulling over the show's test driver,

The Stig The Stig is a character from the British motoring television show '' Top Gear''. Created by former ''Top Gear'' presenter Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman, the character is a play on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, w ...

, and arresting him for speeding. Because of this, the presenters won the challenge.

References

External links

Fife Police
{{Authority control Fife Defunct police forces of Scotland 1949 establishments in Scotland Government agencies established in 1949 Government agencies disestablished in 2013 2013 disestablishments in Scotland Organisations based in Fife