Police Scotland’s four new Deputy Chief Constables

The four Deputy Chief Constables for Police Scotland, the new service which will take on Scotland-wide responsibilities from 1 April next year, have been announced by the Scottish Police Authority.

Three of the four have previously served in Lothian and Borders, namely Neil Richardson who joined the force as a constable in 1985, Iain Livingstone who also joined as a constable in 1992 and Steve Allen who transferred to L&B in 2009 from the Metropolitan Police. The other DCC will be Rose Fitzpatrick who has spent her entire service in England.

All four will report to Chief Constable Stephen House and are expected to take up their new roles shortly. They will be based in the interim headquarters for Police Scotland at Tulliallan Castle.

Vic Emery, Chair of the SPA, said:- “The appointment of these four individuals marks another significant step forward in shaping the leadership of the new service.

“They bring a wealth of experience of delivering local policing, with an understanding that modern policing must also be capable of responding and anticipating national and international threats. It was clear from the appointment process the passion and commitment they all have for the job ahead.

“Each will play a crucial role in supporting the Chief Constable and the Authority in the coming months to ensure the service is ready for day 1, and that the quality of police service that the public rightly expect is maintained.

“Step by step a new team is taking shape. The Scottish Police Authority is continuing to work closely with the Chief Constable and his team to ensure the people of Scotland get the best police service possible within the level of funding available.”

Chief Constable Stephen House said:-“The appointment of four Deputy Chief Constables is another major milestone in the journey towards the development of the single police service for Scotland and I look forward to working with them.

“These officers will be responsible for leading policing and delivering for the public across all communities, ensuring the public are protected from harm and that Police Scotland keeps people safe.

“The Deputy Chief Constables are absolutely at the forefront of leading the service now through transition and beyond Day 1 as part of the command team. They will be joined in the coming weeks by Assistant Chief Constables, who will assist them in delivering the best possible policing for Scotland.”

All four posts will share the same core responsibilities of supporting the Chief Constable in the achievement of the stated aims of police reform and the upholding the principles of Police Scotland.

Neil Richardson joined Lothian and Borders Police in 1985 and gained experience within several areas, including Training, Community Safety, Firearms, Divisional Operations, Staff Officer to Chief Constable and CID, including secondment to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA).

As a Divisional Deputy Commander, he played an important role with the introduction of performance targets and ‘community focused’ policing and has taken Operational Command for various operations within the city.

Following temporary promotion to Assistant Chief Constable (ACC), he was promoted to full time ACC (Territorial Policing) in November 2006.

In August 2008, he was successful in his application to become Deputy Chief Constable with Strathclyde Police. Within his role he has responsibility for a wide range of police matters including; professional standards, complaints and discipline, organisational development, quality, health and safety, change management and overseeing Force programmes and projects.

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Open University, an MBA with distinction from Napier University and a Diploma in Applied Criminology from Cambridge University. He was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2011.

His new responsibilities include leading key aspects of the major changes required to deliver reform and its benefits and providing inspirational leadership towards maintaining and improving service performance during a time of organisational change. He is currently seconded full time to the National Police Reform Programme from Strathclyde Police.

Iain Livingstone graduated from Aberdeen University in 1988 with a first class honours degree in law and after further study at Strathclyde University qualified as a solicitor, working in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. He remains enrolled with the Law Society of Scotland.

He joined Lothian and Borders Police in 1992 and served in Detective and uniform roles in the City of Edinburgh and West Lothian, as well as working at HQ CID.

He has led numerous serious crime investigations, including being the Senior Investigating Officer during the G8 protests in Edinburgh and for the Category A Murder investigation following the double shooting at the Marmion Bar in March 2006. Later that year he was appointed Detective Chief Superintendent, Head of CID.

After completing the 2008 Strategic Command Course, he was appointed as Assistant Chief Constable (Crime and Operational Support) in April 2009, with responsibility for Crime Division and Operations Division.

As ACC, he has exercised strategic command for a number of significant events, including the visit of Pope Benedict XVI and various environmental and political protests.  He leads the ACPOS Public Protection Portfolio, which has national strategic oversight for the police service in Scotland for issues including child protection, domestic abuse, sexual crime and offender management.

In 1998, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for study in the USA, graduating with a master’s degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. He has also undertaken external attachments to the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland as a senior investigator and to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, completing inspections on complaints against the police and covert policing.

His new responsibilities include Crime and Operational Support. This post will lead on crime reduction and detection across Scotland as well as the provision of specialist operational services.

Steve Allen joined Lothian and Borders from the Metropolitan Police in 2010 where he was appointed Deputy Chief Constable with responsibility for Corporate Development, Corporate Communications, Complaints and Conduct as well as deputising for the Chief Constable.

He joined Avon and Somerset Constabulary in 1985, and held a variety of operational posts.

In 1998/99 he attended and graduated from the Joint Services Command and Staff College, where he studied with officers from the three armed services of the UK and many other countries, before becoming Divisional Commander for the city of Bath and North East Somerset.

He transferred to the Metropolitan Police in 2003, and took command of the MPS Diversity Directorate. As MPS lead for Family Liaison he managed the response to families affected by the Tsunami in 2005 and again, in the immediate aftermath, to the families affected by the London bombings of July 2005.

In 2006 he was given the task of creating the MPS Violent Crime Directorate. This gave him responsibility for a range of public protection and volume violent crime performance across London.

Between April 2007 and January 2009 he was the Commander of the City of Westminster, responsible for policing the heart of the capital city, leading a team of over 2000 police officers and staff.

He was then posted to the Human Resources Directorate where he was the MPS Director of Training and Development. Between 2006 and 2009 he was the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for Honour-based Violence and Forced Marriage.

He holds a Diploma in Applied Criminology, a BA (Hons) degree in Politics and a Masters in Defence Studies.

His new role includes responsibility for the Commonwealth Games and major events, including the Ryder Cup. This post will provide strategic direction and oversight of policing of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and major events in Scotland, including the Ryder Cup. He is currently Deputy Chief Constable at Lothian and Borders Police.

Finally, Rose Fitzpatrick has been appointed Deputy Chief Constable with responsibility for Territorial Policing. This role will lead local policing around Scotland, working with communities to keep people safe. She has served in a number of Deputy Assistant Commissioner posts in the Metropolitan Police Service including territorial policing, and was most recently responsible for corporate development functions there.

There are currently eight Chief Constables, nine Deputy Chief Constables and 13 Assistant Chief Constables in Scotland. Police Scotland will have a much slimmer command structure of one Chief Constable, four Deputy Chief Constables and six Assistant Chief Constables. All Deputy Chief Constables have been appointed on a four year contract. The salary for each will be £169,600.