The Kannur sub division was formed as per GO(Rt.)928/70 Home dated 27.05.1970. In Kannur sub District ,there are  3 subdivisions namely Kannur,Kasargod and Thalassery, where the police stations of Kasargod and Wayanad districts were included. As a result to the formation of Wayanad and Kasargod District the police stations and Circles of Wayanad and Kasargod District got seperated from Kannur District and the police stations namely Kannur town, Valapattanam, Edakkad, Taliparamba, Alakkode, Sreekandapuram,Irikkur and Ulikkal were added under Kannur Sub Division. There after, several Police stations and Circle offices were  formed and new  subdivisions of Taliparamba and Panoor had started functioning. Subsequently,Panoor Subdivision was shifted and renamed as Iritty Sub Division and the Police stations under Iritty Circle have been included at Iritty Subdivision.

Currently, the Kannur Subdivision consists of Kannur Town, Kannur Traffic, Kannur City,Edakkad, Chakkarakal, Valapattanam, Kannapuram and Mayyil Police Stations. The Control Room in Kannur also comes under Kannur Sub Division.Besides the above, Coastal police station in Azeekkal is also functioning under Subdivisional Jurisdiction.