26 September: Scotland Yard

On this date in 1829 Scotland Yard, the official British criminal investigation organisation, was formed. Here are ten things you might not know about Scotland Yard:

1. The name "Scotland Yard" comes from the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police back in 1829. The address was 4 Whitehall Place, but the back entrance, which became the public entrance, was in a street called Great Scotland Yard. The street may have been the site of a residence for the kings of Scotland before the union with England, or it may simply have been built on land which belonged to someone by the name of Scott in the Middle Ages.
2. The first two commissioners to occupy the building were Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne. The first two constables were PC William Atkinson and PC William Alcock, who were arrested for drunkenness on their first day.
3. The police moved away from that building in 1890 when the force got too big to be accommodated there. Their new HQ was dubbed "New Scotland Yard". The current HQ, while officially known as New Scotland Yard is still generally referred to as Scotland Yard although technically you could say it should be "New New Scotland Yard".
4. The construction of the new building itself created a mystery worthy of Scotland Yard which remains unsolved - the builders found a dismembered torso of a woman. The case became known as the "Whitehall Mystery".
5. There is still a police presence in Great Scotland Yard. The mounted branch still have some stables there.
6. The current New Scotland Yard is on Broadway in Victoria and has been the Metropolitan Police's headquarters since 1967. However, they are on the move again, back to one of their former locations on Victoria Embankment. The current building is being sold for £250 million.
7. The triangular "New Scotland Yard" sign outside the building turns 14,000 times a day.
8. Security, as you might expect, is tight. There is a concrete wall around the building, concrete barriers in front of the ground level windows and a covered walkway from the street to the entrance. Armed officers from the Diplomatic Protection Group patrol the exterior of the building along with security staff.
9. The headquarters also houses the force's crime database which can be used by all Britain's police forces and goes by the name of Home Office Large Major Enquiry System or HOLMES for short. Was that a coincidence, I wonder, or did some computer and Sherlock nerd spend ages trying to make that fit? The training programme is called "Elementary".
10. The building also houses a crime museum, called The Black Museum, which is not currently open to the public (although it can be viewed by invitation if you're an appropriate celebrity, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). Exhibits include letters from Jack the Ripper, and the pot in which serial killer Dennis Nilsen boiled the heads, hands and feet of his victims in order to remove their flesh. There is some pressure from Parliament to open it to the public as charging for entry would help fund the force.