6th January 1956

Guernsey Police moves to its new headquarters

This was a year of great change for Guernsey Police. Its officers were given a brand new khaki uniform, which had a distinctly Mediterranean feel, and they moved into a new headquarters building.

They didn’t move far, being already based in St Peter Port. However, with its existing premises feeling distinctly cramped, it decamped to a purpose-built facility, St James’s Chambers, which also housed the Law Officers of the Crown. The location had historical significance to the force.

Coming home

The building was new but when Guernsey’s first island-wide force had been established in the 1920s it was based in a single room next door to an umbrella shop in the existing St James’s Chambers. As a result, the force spent a total of 73 years at the site, from 1920 until 1993, by which time it had once again outgrown the available space. At this point it moved to the former hospital building.

It had taken six years for the hospital site to be converted and made suitable for police use, with the move first being discussed in the States of Deliberation in summer 1987.

The move allowed the force to once again accommodate all of its departments on a single site, rather than scattering them about Town.

Although the police is no longer based there, the Law Officers of the Crown still occupy space in St James’s Chambers, ensuring that the building’s role in upholding law on the island continues to this day.