The Inverness Burgh Police was the police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 force responsible for the Royal Burgh

Royal burgh

A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....

 of Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 from 1847 to 1968.

History

Although law enforcement of a kind had been present in the Royal Burgh of Inverness since time immemorial, by 1827 the Inverness Courier complained of the lack of an efficient police. The Town Council from then on made use of the services of the Town Serjeants to enforce the law. In 1843 there was one Serjeant in overall charge and two more who patrolled the town during the day. A body of six watchmen patrolled the burgh at night.

In 1840 the County of Inverness-shire

Inverness-shire

The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...

 (excluding the burgh) set up its own police, the Inverness-shire Constabulary

Inverness-shire Constabulary

The Inverness-shire Constabulary, also called the Inverness County Police, was the police force of the county of Inverness-shire in Scotland.The force was established in 1840...

, and in 1841 Inverness's Town Officers became part of the Inverness-shire force. The County Superintendent took overall command of the joint organisation and Town Serjeant Alexander Grant became Sub-Inspector

Sub-inspector

Sub-inspector is a rank used extensively in the Indian Police, Pakistani Police and Sri Lankan Police, which is primarily based on the British model. It was formerly used in most British colonial police forces and in certain British police forces as well...

 for the Inverness District (including Inverness Burgh), with additional watchmen being appointed for the Burgh and Landward area.

This arrangement existed until 1847 , when the Royal Burgh set up its own police force, authority to do so being contained in a local Act of Parliament

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

.

The first Superintendent of Inverness Burgh Police was David Anderson, appointed on 4 September 1847. The force merged again with Inverness-shire Constabulary on 16 November 1968 to form the Inverness Constabulary

Inverness Constabulary

Inverness Constabulary was a police force in Scotland that covered the entirety of the county of Inverness-shire.It was created on 16 November 1968, as a merger of the Inverness Burgh Police and the Inverness-shire Constabulary...

.

Chief Officers

The Chief Officer was called the Superintendent until 1892, when he was renamed the Chief Constable

Chief Constable

Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...

.

• Alexander Grant (Town Serjeant), ?–2 May 1841
• Eyre John Powell (Superintendent, Inverness-shire Constabulary), 3 May 1841–24 August 1841
• John MacBean (Superintendent, Inverness-shire Constabulary), 24 August 1841–1 May 1847
• David Anderson, 4 September 1847–3 May 1854
• John Sutherland, 31 July 1854–13 May 1872
• Thomas Wyness, 16 June 1872–8 January 1880
• John MacDonald , 25 February 1880–30 April 1908
• John MacNaughton, 4 June 1908–31 December 1935
• Alexander Neville, 26 January 1936–19 October 1942
• William J. Dalgleish (acting), 1 May 1942–10 January 1943
• James Stewart, 11 January 1943–10 August 1946
• Andrew Meldrum, 11 August 1946–16 May 1949 (acting, 7 August 1944–10 August 1946)
• William Paterson, 15 March 1950–18 August 1962 (acting 16 May 1949–14 March 1950)
• Alasdair MacBean (acting), 19 August 1962–3 February 1963
• Thomas Sorley, 4 February 1963–15 November 1968

William Paterson was the only member of the force to rise through the ranks within the force to Chief Constable.

External links

• Northern Constabulary History