Police Scotland is the second-largest police force in the United Kingdom in terms of officer numbers, and by far the largest territorial police force in terms of its geographic area of responsibility.
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22 Facts About Police Scotland
2.
In regard to the Metropolitan Police this is due to their national responsibilities for the protection of the Royal Family and other prominent persons, such as the Prime Minister, and for counter terrorism.
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3.
Police Scotland officially came into being on 1 April 2013 under the Police and Fire Reform Act 2012, merging the following police forces around Scotland:.
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4.
Police Scotland has previously denied setting stop and search performance targets for individual officers.
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5.
The next month, it was revealed that between April and December 2013, Police Scotland's officers stopped and searched members of the Scottish public at a rate of 979.
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6.
In October 2013, Police Scotland announced proposals to close 65 out of 215 police station public counters and reduce opening hours at others.
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7.
Police Scotland was responsible for the security of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
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8.
In October 2013, it was announced that the number of police control rooms and call handling service centres in Scotland was under review, with the possibility of seven out of ten such offices closing.
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9.
Police Scotland uses the same rank structure and insignia as other police forces in the United Kingdom.
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10.
Police Scotland has limited responsibilities in relation to counter terrorism, with the Metropolitan Police being the main force behind counter terrorism operations throughout the UK.
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11.
Major Investigation Teams are located throughout Police Scotland and are responsible for leading the investigation of all murder inquiries and large-scale and complex criminal investigations.
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12.
Police Scotland introduced ARV patrols in all 13 local policing divisions in Scotland with 275 dedicated officers.
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13.
The Air Support Unit was inherited from Strathclyde Police, the only police force in Scotland to possess such a unit at amalgamation in April 2013.
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14.
Police Scotland had access to a loan helicopter from the National Police Air Service.
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15.
Police Scotland received their own, new H135 in early 2017, registered G-POLS.
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16.
Police Scotland operate three mountain rescue teams, which provide search and rescue capabilities to those in need.
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17.
Police Scotland holds responsibility for search and rescue provision across the nation, a responsibility it often delegates to mountain rescue or HM Coastguard.
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18.
Almost all of Police Scotland's high-visibility marked vehicles are marked up in a "half-Battenburg" style.
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19.
The merger became possible after the responsibility for policing of railways in Scotland was devolved following a recommendation by the Smith Commission, and its later inclusion in draft legislation, with the UK Government stating "how rail transport is policed in Scotland will be a matter for Scotland once the legislation is passed".
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20.
In July 2015, Police Scotland failed to respond to an initial report of a vehicle crash on the M9.
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21.
In 2016, Police Scotland undertook a trial of so-called 'cyber-kiosks' for analysing the contents of mobile phones.
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22.
In September 2017, BBC Scotland reported that Police Scotland had compiled an illegal database on over 10 per cent of the population.
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