The Police (Scotland) Act of 1857 specifically excluded the Island Counties of Shetland and Orkney from the requirement to establish a police force. Nonetheless each County subsequently set up its own force, albeit neither was subject to Government inspection (nor the significant Government grant towards funding).

The onset of World War 2, and the proximity of both Island Groups to Norway, saw the Act extended to Shetland (Zetland) in May 1940, and the Zetland County Police and Lerwick Burgh Police then merged to form the Zetland Constabulary on 28th May 1940. At the time of the merger Lerwick had 6 men of all ranks, and the County force had exactly the same number (Chief officer — designated Superintendent - plus Sergeant Ganson and one Constable at Lerwick, and one Constable at each of Scalloway, Mid Yell and Baltasound). After the merger, the new Zetland Constabulary then became an official police force, entitled to have the title of Chief Constable for its chief officer.

The statistics for Shetland in respect of 1965 make interesting reading:

This composite photograph of the former Zetland Constabulary was produced in 1966 just prior to the retiral of the Chief Constable Robert Bruce OBE. The large photograph in the centre is Chief Constable Robert Bruce, who had been appointed Chief Constable in 1950.

The lady on the photograph is Elizabeth Duncan Thompson who was the Clerkess for the Force based at Lerwick. She served from 1960-1990. In 1978 she was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal and in 1988 the British Empire Medal for her services to Policing in the Shetland Islands. She died suddenly following a short illness in July 1996.

In late 1966, as part of the continuing policy of merging small police forces together to form larger, more efficient units, the County Police Committees of Zetland, Orkney and Caithness were served notice by the Secretary of State for Scotland to open negotiations to combine the three forces into one, a proposal which was not well received in the Islands. The Government had long striven to merge the police forces of Orkney and Shetland with a Scottish Mainland force, and ultimately they did merge with Caithness. This proposed action was not well received by the islanders however, and it took several years for the merger to be accomplished.

By 1967 the Zetland Force numbered twenty men of all ranks, comprising:

Baltasound Station was no longer in use and all staff were stationed at Lerwick, apart from one Constable at Scalloway and one at Yell.

Chief Constable Bruce retired in 1967, having given three months notice of his intention to do so in February of that year. John Johnston, Inspector and Deputy Chief Constable, held the rank of Acting Chief Constable for the remaining life of the Zetland Constabulary.

Mr Johnston had joined the Zetland Constabulary before it ceased to be a "Private County council" force in 1940, and he was the solitary County Constable at Lerwick prior to the merger. He subsequently rose through the ranks to become Inspector (and Deputy Chief Constable).

DCC Johnston - who had been awarded the British Empire Medal in 1960 - was tasked with leading the force as Acting Chief Constable until the merger was achieved. It would appear that, since the Scottish Office had ordained the amalgamation was going to take place (sooner or later), there was no useful purpose in going to the effort of seeking the recruitment of a substantive Chief Constable for a limited term. So it was that Mr Johnston was Acting Chief Constable for no less than two years.

While a proposal to merge Orkney and Shetland for policing purposes might well have been fairly acceptable, it was totally unacceptable to both Island counties to be part of a united Police force with a mainland County - especially Caithness, with which the Shetlanders in particular had nothing whatsoever in common.

Orkney and Shetland both came up with an alternative proposal which they would have found far more acceptable - a merger with either Aberdeen City Police or Scottish North-Eastern Counties Constabulary, in view of the close links which Orkney and Shetland (and their Police forces) had with both these forces. Both were headquartered in Aberdeen, the port with which the North Isles had close ties. This suggestion was however rejected out of hand by the Scottish Office.

A more sensible solution would have been to unite Caithness and Sutherland, the two northernmost mainland Counties, but this was no longer possible, Sutherland having merged with Ross & Cromarty in 1963. Thus the County of Caithness presented a problem to the Scottish Office. Now isolated at the top of Scotland, Caithness was too small a Force to be allowed to continue on its own, and there was no other alternative left to the Scottish Office than to insist on merger with the Northern Isles, no matter how impracticable in real terms of day-to-day policing.

Loud and impassioned were the calls for the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Rt Hon Mr William Ross MP, to think again. Officials in Caithness would not oppose the union itself, but obviously were not keen to see a merger imposed on unwilling Islanders. In the Isles, and in Shetland in particular, much was made of the unique position that the islands occupied in the history and law of Scotland.

Under an agreement of the year 1469, Orkney and Shetland had been given to Scotland as a pledge for the dowry of Princess Margaret (daughter of King Christian of Denmark, Norway and Sweden) to King James III of Scotland. The dowry of 60,000 florins, caused 'cash-flow' problems, and Orkney & Shetland were given in pledge to Scotland until Denmark could meet the balance outstanding.

King Christian had expressly stipulated that the native laws and customs pertaining to the Islands should be maintained, as it was his intention to redeem the pledge as soon as possible and reclaim the Islands.

Shetlanders in 1967 also pointed out that in 1567 the Scottish Parliament had laid down that both Orkney and Shetland should continue to enjoy their own laws and not be subject to the common laws of Scotland, this Act never having been repealed in the meantime by the Scottish (or British) Parliament.

The Secretary of State was not impressed, even though the Press made much of the matter, one national Daily concluding that:

The main reasons given by the Scottish Home & Health Department for insisting upon the unification of the three Counties were that:

Most important in the Secretary of State's estimation, however, is the consideration that unless amalgamation is effected, the Northern Island Forces will become separated from the main stream of police development in Scotland.

The Secretary of State's letter went on to express the hope that the Police authorities of Zetland and Orkney would agree by 15th February 1967 to open discussions with Caithness as to details of the merger. The letter was dated 13th January 1967!

Feelings certainly ran high, particularly in Shetland. The Zetland Police Committee resolved to defy the Scottish Secretary's instruction in the following terms:

As stated, the merger of the Constabularies of the Counties of Zetland, Orkney and Caithness finally took place on 16th May 1969, and on 16th May 1975 (on regionalisation of Scottish Local Government) the composite force became part of Northern Constabulary, one of 8 Regional forces in Scotland, almost three years from the original 'edict' from St Andrew's House. These in turn were merged into the Police Service of Scotland on 1st April 2013.

As an aside, one of the officers in the composite photograph above, George Henderson went on to become a Chief Superintendent in Northern Constabulary and also designed the force badge. The son of DCC Johnston would also reach the rank of Chief Supt in Northern Constabulary.

Another officer in the photograph would end his career in Northern Constabulary as Inspector at Lerwick - Arnold Duncan, to whom I am grateful for the information confirming the identify of those in the photo and also the background information concerning Elizabeth Thompson. (Dave Conner)