Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police. The term is often used, popularly, to refer to one branch, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Named after a short street in London, the site of a palace used in the 12th cent. as a residence of visiting Scottish kings, it became London's police center in 1829. New and separate headquarters for the Metropolitan Police were built in 1890 along the Thames embankment and were referred to as New Scotland Yard. In 1967, New Scotland Yard moved to new headquarters, also in the Westminster area.

Bibliography: See H. R. Scott, Scotland Yard (1954); D. G. Browne, The Rise of Scotland Yard: A History (1956, repr. 1973); R. Howe, The Story of Scotland Yard (1965).

Scotland Yard The headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, situated from 1829 to 1890 in Great Scotland Yard, a short street off Whitehall in London, from then until 1967 in New Scotland Yard on the Thames Embankment, and from 1967 in New Scotland Yard, Broadway, Westminster.

Scotland Yard Name given to the London headquarters of the Metropolitan Police and synonymous with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Originally located in Scotland Yard, off Whitehall, it was moved to New Scotland Yard in 1890 and to further new premises in 1967.