On Friday the 16th of May 1975, Strathclyde Police was created. It became the largest of eight Regional Police Forces in Scotland.

The Chief Constable of the new Force was David McNee, the Chief Constable of the City of Glasgow Police. The Headquarters of the new Force was to be 173 Pitt Street, Glasgow. Mr. McNee remained in post until 1977 when he was appointed the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Patrick Hamill, the Deputy Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police, replaced him.

It was a sad day for Lanarkshire Constabulary, which had policed the County since the 13th of October 1857, a total of almost 118 years.

Three senior members of the Force remained as part of the command team of Strathclyde Police:

The insignia for the Force was to be the National Cap Badge and the Numerals based on the style worn by the City of Glasgow Police. 3,000 were purchased at a cost of £15,000. These were manufactured by a company based in Birmingham.

The warrant cards were to be a Polaroid photograph sealed in laminate. The total cost of these was £5,000. They were produced by the Polaroid company that had a base in Dumbarton.

One year later a rationalisation programme recommended that three of the divisions, 'J', 'M' and 'S', be merged into existing divisions. Over the years many other such mergers took place including Lanarkshire. At midnight on Monday the 30th of November 1998 one of the original Lanarkshire Divisions of Strathclyde Police ceased to exist. On the 1st of December, 'P' Division, covering the following areas and their surrounding villages:

became part of the newly extended 'N' Division, providing one Division to cover the North Lanarkshire area. Sub-Divisional areas were re-aligned and one Divisional Commander appointed. This was one of many mergers which saw a number of Divisions lost to the history of Strathclyde Police in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Toward the end of Strathclyde Police, 'N' Division was merged into 'Q' Division, which remains the policing division of Police Scotland. Strathclyde Police became part of Police Scotland on 1st April 2013.