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.
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).
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