CI McDonald & Insp Amabile2

Police Scotland have introduced the two senior officers responsible for keeping people safe as they travel through Edinburgh Airport.

They are Chief Inspector Paul McDonald and Inspector Stevie Amabile of Border Policing Command.

Following his recent promotion, CI McDonald will officially be overseeing Border Policing Command Protective Security Officers based in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick Airports. He will also have a professional overview of Inverness and Dundee Airports. These uniformed officers provide a visible presence to millions of people a year travelling through our airports.

He said: “Airports are busy, vibrant places with large numbers of passengers travelling through on a daily basis. It is the role of Border Policing Command Officers to ensure the transit of passengers is a safe and positive experience.

“It is my focus that Border Policing Command Officers, working in partnership with agencies including Airport Security, Airlines and Border Force, deliver a highly professional and effective security presence at all the Scottish Airports. People should be able to go through their journey feeling safe, and without feeling under any threat.

“Our key priorities are to protect and prepare against the threat from terrorism; tackle serious and organised criminal activity; and deal with any anti-social behaviour. We also have a key role to play in emergency planning, coordinating the response to any aircraft-related emergency incident.”

From today, Inspector Amabile will officially be taking over Paul’s previous role as Edinburgh Airport Commander and will be overseeing the physical security at the city’s airport; helping to keep visitors flying to and from the Capital safe.
In 2014, the airport saw 10.2 million passengers, with an average of 285 flights per day. He said: “I am delighted to be taking command of Protective Security, uniform policing, at Edinburgh Airport.

“Edinburgh Airport is a dynamic and developing environment through which 30,000 passengers travel every day. This presents daily security challenges and its my job to ensure the safety of everyone who travels through, visits or works at our Capital’s transport hub.

“I look forward to leading the team of highly visible, specialist officers from Police Scotland’s Border Policing Command and to working alongside our partners at Edinburgh Airport to ensure the security of millions of travellers every year.”
Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “Police Scotland are an integral part of our airport operation and work with various different teams to maintain our high levels of security.

“We have over 5000 people working throughout the entire airport campus.  Paul and Stevie are prominent and visible members of the Border Policing Command unit here at the airport and are committed to ensuring the safety our passengers and staff.

“I want to congratulate them on behalf of all of us here at the airport on their promotions.”

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John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.