The Stenhouse Street Station was officially opened on 4^th July 1980 after a short move from the previous building in Broad Street.

Assistant Chief Constable Andrew Barker of Fife Constabulary opened the event and thanked all who were present for their attendance. These included a large number of previous police, support staff and Special Constables who had been stationed at Cowdenbeath at the time and since, local councillors and other colleagues from Fife Council who have worked closely with the staff at Cowdenbeath over the years and have made it such a community orientated station.

Chief Inspector Graham Bennet was the first to carry out the role at the new Stenhouse Street Station in 1980. You may think the name is familiar as the present incumbent is Ross Bennet, with Graham Bennet being his father. As many will know, Graham went on to become Deputy Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary.

Many old photographs and newspaper articles had been obtained and where displayed at the event which showed the changes over the years to both the station and staff that have worked in it.

The official opening brochure for the then new station showed what the station was like back then, with no computers, no DNA, no analytical profiling, no vehicle tracking devices, no video conferencing, no CCTV, no taped interviews, basic radios and staff dealing with far more diverse and at times non-police related tasks, than there is now.

Chief Inspector Ross Bennet delivered a whistle stop tour of policing at Cowdenbeath over the past 30 years, which demonstrated the changes that have happened over the intervening period.

He highlighted in 1980 that there were 2,615 crimes reported to police at Cowdenbeath and 57% were detected. By 1990 this figure had gone up to 4229 with 50% detected and by 2010 the figure had decreased to 3645, which means considerable fewer victims, with a detection rate of 76%.

The highly successful anti-vandalism campaign Operation Crack-it, was also outlined by Chief Inspector Ross Bennet. This was pioneered and developed at Cowdenbeath and tackles this crime in differing ways through education, enforcement and detection. This has resulted in vandalism being reduced significantly and the detection rate increasing substantially as a result. This has now been adopted as best practice force wide as a result.

The success of policing in the Cowdenbeath area has not been done in isolation and Chief Inspector Ross Bennet thanked the partners from Social Work, Health, Education, Transportation, Locality Management, Fife Fire and Rescue Service and Community Wardens for their continued support and assistance. Likewise the input from Local Councillors and work of the Area Committee was praised and this was highlighted by the purchase of two Domehawk cameras to tackle crime in anti-social behaviour that was made possible by this close working relationship.

Looking to the future, Chief Inspector Bennet stated at the conclusion of the event: '' I am not only pleased, but also proud to say, that Cowdenbeath has always been and continues to be a successful station. However, with the resilience, dedication and passion of the Cowdenbeath Staff, together with the continued support of our partners and communities the future can and will be even better.  We must remember that we are not only serving the Cowdenbeath area, we are "part" of the Cowdenbeath area.''