Tuesday 2 December 2008

Glasgow Police Museum to close

The Glasgow Police Museum which is based in the old District Court in St Andrew's Square is due to close on 8 December.  The Scottish Courts Service is taking over the District Courts from Glasgow Council but does not want the old court building, so the museum has been given notice to quit.  The full story is on the Evening Times website at http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2468550.0.curators_anguish_as_glasgow_police_museum_is_axed.php


The Glasgow Police were Britain's oldest police force.

The first attempts to establish a police force for Glasgow were made as far back as 1779 but it wasn't until the Glasgow Police Act was passed in 1800 that a permanent force was established.  The newly formed force, consisting of three sergeants, six police officers and 68 watchmen mustered for the first time in the Laigh Church, Trongate on 15 November 1800.

For the following 175 years the City of Glasgow Police served the city.  

The force was finally disbanded on 15 May 1975 when it was amalgamated with other forces to form Strathclyde Police.

The Police Museum has a website at http://www.policemuseum.org.uk/ where you can read about the history of the force.

Sheena

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