- Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
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Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary 
Area coveredArea Dumfries and Galloway Size 6,426 km² Population 148,000 Operations Formed 1948 (merger) HQ Dumfries Officers 508 + 106 Special Constables Divisions 2 Stations 19 Chief Constable Patrick Shearer QPM Website www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for the council area of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.
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.[1]
The current Chief Constable is Patrick Shearer QPM. Shearer was appointed on 24 April 2007,[2] in succession to his predecessor David Strang who was made Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police.[3] The current Deputy Chief Constable is George Graham, who took over from Robert Ovens QPM on 1 January 2006.[4]
Lockerbie Bombing
On 21 December 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid-air as a result of a bomb onboard, 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. It took a further nine years 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.[5] On 20 August 2009, al-Megrahi was freed on humanitarian grounds because of an apparent terminal prostate cancer.[6]
References
- ^ "Our History". Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary. http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutus/history.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Profile - Chief Constable". Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary. http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutUs/ourStaff/profiles/cc.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Chief Constable David Strang". Lothian and Borders Police. http://www.lbp.police.uk/about/forcemanagement/chiefconstable/chiefconstable.asp. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Profile - Deputy Chief Constable". Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary. http://www.dumfriesandgalloway.police.uk/aboutUs/ourStaff/profiles/dcc.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Libyan guilty of Lockerbie bombing". BBC News. 2001-01-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1144893.stm. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Lockerbie bomber freed from jail". BBC News. 2009-08-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/8197370.stm. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
External links
Categories:- Dumfries and Galloway
- Police forces of Scotland
- Government agencies established in 1948
- 1948 establishments in Scotland
- United Kingdom law enforcement agency stubs
- Scottish organisation stubs
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