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Northern Constabulary
Northern Constabulary area
Coverage
Area	Highland, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney Isles and Shetland Isles
Size	31,186 km²
Population	approx. 300,000
Operations
Formed	1975 (merger)
HQ	Inverness
Officers	Approx 715
Divisions or Area Commands	8
Stations	71
Chief Constable	Ian Latimer
Website	http://www.northern.police.uk/

The Northern Constabulary is the police force for Northern Scotland, covering the council areas of Highland, Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Western Isles), the Orkney Isles and the Shetland Isles, which comprise most of the Highlands and Islands area. It is the police force covering the largest geographical area in the United Kingdom, equivalent to the size of Belgium, but is one of the smallest in terms of officers, with about 715 officers.^[1]

The police force was formed on May 16, 1975 and merged a pre-existing Northern Constabulary, the Ross & Sutherland Constabulary (merger of Ross & Cromarty Constabulary and Sutherland Constabulary) and the Inverness Constabulary (merger of Inverness Burgh Police and Inverness-shire Constabulary), along with the northernmost portion of the Argyll County Police area, and the Nairn part of the Scottish North East Counties Constabulary. The previous Northern Constabulary had been created in 1969 by the merger of the Caithness, Orkney and Shetland forces.

The new Northern Constabulary was created at the same time as local government reorganisation created the Highland regional council and the islands councils of the Western Isles, the Orkney Isles and the Shetland Isles. The rest of the Argyll County Police were merged into the Strathclyde Police, and the rest of the Scottish North East Counties Constubulary into the Grampian Police.

The Northern Constabulary area is also the area covered by the Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service.

Northern Constabulary, with a relatively low crime rate and a consistently very high detection rate, makes the Highlands & Islands one of the safest places to live work and visit, across the United Kingdom.^[2] The force operates in a "Community Policing" style and has done since its creation. Both its officers and support staff see the ethos of decision-making and problem-solving pushed as close to front-line policing as possible, as being fundamental in maintaining strong links with local communities.

In order to help keep decision-making as local as possible, Northern has been at the forefront nationally in Devolved Resource Management (DRM) for many years. The Chief Constable allocates one-line budgets to each of his Area Commanders, closely monitoring progress across a range of indicators, over the year, through regular Performance Review and Performance Review Boards.

1. ^ See Justice Support to Local Authories, The Annual Report of the Scottish Executive
2. ^ See: Excellence in Community Policing

• Official Northern Constabulary website