The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) was a

special police force Special police usually describes a law enforcement agency or unit within a such an agency whose duties and responsibilities are significantly different from other forces in the same nation, jurisdiction, or from other personnel within the same agen ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

responsible for disrupting and dismantling serious

organised crime Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some ...

groups. The Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) was established on 1 April 2001, becoming the SCDEA in 2006 and was incorporated into

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 ...

on 1 April 2013. Th
Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006
put the SDEA on a statutory footing and renamed it as the ''Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency'', funded through the Scottish Police Services Authority. Despite its title, it was formally not a police agency but a police force, whose officers are constables having the same powers as their

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

counterparts. It worked alongside other Scottish police forces and was answerable to the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

through the Scottish Police Services Authority. The Director of the agency was responsible to Scottish Ministers and the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

for financial and administrative matters. Some functions were shared with the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

Serious Organised Crime Agency The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, e ...

(SOCA), but SOCA required permission from the SCDEA or the

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

to conduct certain operations. 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 The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (asp 8) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. This legislation merged the eight separate police forces and fire and rescue services in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, ...

, created a single Police Service of Scotland – to be known as

– with effect from 1 April 2013. 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. Police Scotland has its headquarters at the

Scottish Police College The Scottish Police College is based at Tulliallan Castle, in Kincardine. Since 1 April 2013, the college has been under the control of Police Scotland. In addition to probationer training, the college provides training in various specialist ...

Tulliallan Tulliallan (Gaelic ''tulach-aluinn'', 'Beautiful knoll') was an estate in Perthshire, Scotland, near to Kincardine-on-Forth, Kincardine, and a Civil parishes in Scotland, parish. The Clan Blackadder, Blackadder lairds of Tulliallan, a branch of ...

in Fife. The SCDEA was headed by a Director General and Deputy Director General, who as members of the

Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) was the professional voice of police leadership ( Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables and Assistant Chief Constables) in Scotland, including the Assistant Chief Constable in the Br ...

formed the core of the Policy Group (the Executive of the SCDEA.)

Units

The SCDEA had created several units and officials responsible for expanding its role in preventing serious crime in Scotland: * Drugs Strategy Unit * Scottish Money Laundering Unit * Scottish Witness Protection Unit * e-crime Unit (Scotland)

References

External links

Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement AgencyAssociation of Chief Police Officers in ScotlandPolicy Memorandum explaining future changes
{{Authority control Government agencies established in 2001 2001 establishments in Scotland Law enforcement agencies of Scotland Defunct police forces of Scotland Scottish criminal law Organised crime in Scotland Law enforcement operations against organised crime in the United Kingdom Drugs in Scotland Public bodies of the Scottish Government 2001 in British law 2013 disestablishments in Scotland Government agencies disestablished in 2013 Organisations based in Renfrewshire Paisley, Renfrewshire

Units

See also

References

External links