Though Scotland Yard is in fact the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Force, the name is almost always associated with the Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.) of the Metropolitan Police. The C.I.D. was set up in 1878. The name Scotland Yard comes from the fact that originally there was a palace used by the Scottish kings and their ambassadors when they visited Lo n don. Later the palace was replaced by the building of the Metropolitan Police. But the name of Scotland Yard sticked to it.
The Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.) consists of about 1,500 detectives, of which 1,300 do ordinary detective work. The remaining 200 detectives work in the Special Branch, which in many respects is national first, because it has a staff at every airport and se a port, and secondly, because it is charged with protecting very important persons (VIPs) and dealing with actions which may be regarded as subversive to the state. Other branches of the C.I.D. which operate on a nationwide scale are as follows:
1 ) the criminal record office, which is the only office in the country that maintains a central record of all criminals.
2 ) the fingerprint department which by status, maintains all fingerprint records.
3 ) the flying squad, which is used all over the country by chief constables when necessary. Although the C.I.D. usually operates on a nation wide scale it can go to the help of a provincial police force only if it is invited. In serious cases it is usually invited .