Editing Police division (section)

==United Kingdom==

The term has existed since the creation of police forces in the early 19th century. Most police forces were divided into divisions, usually commanded by a [[Superintendent (police)|Superintendent]]. Divisions were usually divided into Sub-Divisions, commanded by [[Inspector]]s (or, in the Metropolitan Police, [[Sub-Divisional Inspector]]s, a higher rank). Some rural forces did not acquire this further organisational level until well into the 20th century, however. Sub-divisional commanders were later regraded as [[Chief Inspector]]s in most forces. In London, divisions were later grouped together as districts, each commanded by a [[Chief Constable]] and later a [[Deputy Assistant Commissioner]].

Each division could cover a wide rural area, a substantial town, or a portion of a city, depending on the population ([[London]], for instance, was divided at one point into 67 [[Metropolitan Police]] [[History of the Metropolitan Police Service#The Metropolitan Police 1829-2009|divisions]] and sub-divisions<ref>'Division' and 'Sub-Division', in Martin Fido and Keith Skinner, ''The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard'' (London; Virgin Books, 1999), pages 70-71 and 255</ref> and a further four [[City of London Police]] divisions{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}). In 1949, the Metropolitan Police regraded its divisional commanders as [[Chief Superintendent]]s and most other forces followed suit. With the reforms of the 1990s, sub-divisions and divisions acquired a variety of new names – for instance, in 1999 the Metropolitan Police replaced its divisions with "Borough Policing", whose boundaries were based on the 1965 [[London boroughs]].<ref>'Borough Policing', in Martin Fido and Keith Skinner, ''The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard'' (London; Virgin Books, 1999), pages 25</ref>

===Metropolitan Police divisions, 1829–1999===
1829
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|style=width: 900px|
*A (Whitehall)
*B (Westminster{{efn|Later known as Chelsea}})
*C (St James's)
*D (Marylebone)
*E (Holborn)
*F (Covent Garden{{efn|Abolished c.1869}})
*G (Finsbury)
*H (Whitechapel)
*K (Stepney{{efn|Later known as Bow}})
*L (Lambeth)
*M (Southwark)
*N (Islington)
*P (Camberwell)
*R (Greenwich)
*S (Hampstead)
*T (Kensington{{efn|Later known as Hammersmith}})
*V (Wandsworth)
}}

Later additions by formation date
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|style=width: 900px|
*W (Clapham) (1865)
*X (Willesden) (1865)
*Y (Highgate{{efn|Later Tottenham}}) (1865)
*J (Bethnal Green{{efn|Later known as Hackney}}) (1886)
*F (Paddington) (1886)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fomphc.com/timeline-1829-to-1899/|title=Timeline - 1829 to 1899|publisher=Friends of the Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre|access-date=2 November 2020}}</ref>
*Z (Croydon) (1921)
*Q (Kilburn) (1965)
*I (Heathrow) (1984{{efn|Abolished 1986}})
}}