Report detail

Bravery and Excellence Awards

On 27 February 2025, I attended the Chief Constable’s Bravery and Excellence Awards. The awards again highlighted extraordinary stories and examples of officers, staff, partners and members of the public who have demonstrated bravery and excellence, often going above and beyond, to help protect individuals and communities across Scotland.

The ceremony was a chance to celebrate the many examples of excellence and selfless acts over the last year – all of which have helped to keep the citizens of Scotland safer. I want to reiterate again my congratulations to all those nominated for awards and thanked them for their courage, commitment and contribution.

Assistant Chief Constable Recruitment

On 13 March 2025, I was delighted to announce the appointment of Alan Waddell to the role of Assistant Chief Constable (ACC). Chief Superintendent Alan Waddell is currently Police Scotland’s Head of Emergency, Events and Resilience Planning. He brings a wealth of skills and experience which will support the Chief Constable and her leadership team to drive and deliver Police Scotland’s vision and business plan to 2030.

I want to thank the Selection Panel which included the Chief Constable, Board Member Alasdair Hay and David Robertson, Chief Executive of Scottish Borders Council who was our Independent panel member. I also want to thank DCC Jane Connors LVO QPM and DCC Alan Speirs KPM who supported the process in conducting operational competency interviews with the candidates.

I also want to thank the candidates who put themselves forward for this challenging process.

Board Member Retirement and Recruitment

On 31 March 2025, Grant Macrae, Catriona Stewart and Caroline Stuart will conclude their appointment terms with the Authority. I want to pay tribute to each of them for their contribution and commitment to policing over their respective appointment terms. Grant and Caroline retire after 8-years and Catriona after 4-years.

Their departure reduces the Board to 9 Members from 1 April 2025 however I expect the Scottish Government Public Appointment Team to launch a recruitment process for new members in April with a view to new Members coming on Board after the summer.

Community Confidence Action Research – Final Report

On 27 February 2025, the Authority and Police Scotland hosted an online event to mark the end of the Community Confidence Action Research Project and formally launch the final project report. The event was streamed live to the Authority’s YouTube channel and members of the public were invited to engage with questions.

The joint project ran between 2021-24, undertaking participative action research in four areas across Scotland (Letham, Levenmouth, Irvine Fullarton and Wick) in order to:

• understand more about what drives relatively low levels of confidence in the police in some communities, and;
• work alongside communities to identify and put in place small-scale, sustainable initiatives that they felt might have a positive effect on levels of confidence in the police.

Over the course of the project, reports were published on the Authority’s website in each of the areas. Similar themes and suggestions were raised in all four areas captured through surveys and community conversations. Where it was evident that all four areas enjoyed a stong sense of community spirit, feedback also cited issues such as, anti social behaviour, a lack of visible policing and a feeling of abandonment or deterioration of community facilities as key concerns.

The final project report was considered by the Authority’s Policing Performance Committee. This has been a valuable piece of work providing insight that is being used to inform local policing approaches and models going forward. I would echo the Committee’s thanks to the numerous local community groups and local authority partners for their input and insights over the course of the project; and thanks the officials who have supported and delivered the project.