New Scotland Yard, often referred to as simply Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). New Scotland Yard is located at Broadway in Westminster, about 200 yards away from the Houses of Parliament.
The name derives from its original location on a street off Whitehall called Great Scotland Yard. The exact origins of this name are unknown, though a popular explanation is that it was the former site of the residence of the Scottish kings (when staying in England) or their ambassadors, prior to the union of England and Scotland. An interesting and thorough explanation of this can be found here [1] (http://www.tartans.com/modules.php.srl.op+modload,name+News,file+article,sid+70,mode+thread,order+0,thold+0.html). The premises later moved twice, once in 1890 to a location on the Victoria Embankment near the present-day Ministry of Defence and then again to the current premises in 1967; both new premises were called "New Scotland Yard". (Source: [2] (http://www.scotlandyard.police.uk/history/definition.htm#p7))
The original Scotland Yard was taken over by the British Army and became an Army recruiting office and Royal Military Police headquarters. Today, the only surviving element of the original Scotland Yard is a Metropolitan Police stables at 7 Great Scotland Yard. The first New Scotland Yard is now called the Norman Shaw Building and part of it is still used as a police station (Cannon Row) for the Westminster area.
Scotland Yard's crime database is called Home Office Large Major Enquiry System, and the acronym is HOLMES. As well, the training program is called "Elementary" in honour of the great, if fictional, detective Sherlock Holmes.
Scotland Yard's telephone number was originally Whitehall 1212. The majority of London area police stations, as well as Scotland Yard itself, still have 1212 as their last four digits.
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