HMICS was established by the
Police (Scotland) Act 1857. Until 1 April 2013, HMICS was responsible for inspections of the eight Scottish territorial police forces, the
Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, the
Scottish Criminal Record Office, the
Scottish Police College and the Scottish Police Information Strategy. Until 1 April 2007, HMICS was also responsible for dealing with complaints against the police; since then non-criminal complaints have been dealt with by the
Police Complaints Commissioner, following the passing of the
Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006. HMIC has no authority to deal with complaints against chief police officers. ==List of chief inspectors==