Sara Buchanan, Detective Superintendent, Police Scotland has been awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List.
DS Buchanan’s dedication and commitment during her thirty year policing career has both inspired her peers and enhanced and improved the delivery of policing services to communities across Scotland.
Early in her career, Sara moved into the specialist area of covert policing and has undertaken a number of roles at ranks including Sergeant, Inspector and Superintendent.
She has provided a significant contribution to covert policing development by the UK law enforcement community, championing and driving continuous improvement in this area since the embryonic stages of Police Scotland. She maintains her ambitions for improvements, seeking to further advance covert policing opportunities in supporting local communities, targeting criminals and achieving justice.
As Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), Sara has led multiple complex enquires, including the high profile corporate homicide investigation into the fire at the Balmoral Bar in Edinburgh in 2009.
A seminal moment in Sara’s career came in 2014 when she was appointed Strategic Commander following the disappearance of three-year old Mikaeel Kular. Her proactive appeals through local and national media outlets were instrumental in enlisting public cooperation and providing community support and reassurance throughout this tragic and highly traumatic incident.
Liam Fitzpatrick, Police Constable, Police Scotland
PC Liam Fitzpatrick is a Constable approaching 30 years’ service who has spent the majority of his service within Lothian and Borders Police, undertaking specialist roles in Firearms and Public Order, where he quickly became known as a Subject Matter Expert in Training, Advising (Public order and Firearms), Close Protection, Use of Force and Officer Safety training. He was the lead instructor for Public Order and sat on both the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) working groups, making contacts throughout the UK and driving forward the move to professionalising the police response to conflict and use of force.
Prior to 1994, legacy forces within Scotland and the UK had limited Officer Safety Training, often relying on wooden baton and handcuffs to deal with disorder and violent prisoners. In a move to improve officer and public safety, Liam volunteered to lead on the creation of a full suite of training and techniques. Over a period of more than 24 years, he has almost single-handedly driven the introduction and professionalisation of Officer Safety Training (OST), introducing a highly competent, measured, risk assessed process for dealing with the public, which crucially stands up to scrutiny in the public eye.
Having helped in the creation of the first full time Public Order and Search Unit within Lothian and Borders Police, and throughout stints as an operational officer, more than 25,000 officers having benefited from PC Fitzpatrick’s expertise and enthusiasm in various guises as an instructor and mentor.
He was a key adviser for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Edinburgh in 1996, and has taken on significant logistical and challenging roles including G8 Gleneagles in 2005 and the London Olympics 2012.
Liam has worked work at the annual Edinburgh Hogmanay street party for more than 28 years, during which time the event has evolved from 20,000 revellers to over 125,000. He has guided many new and inexperienced Police Commanders through the planning and implementation stages, including detailed partnership working with the Council and organisers. He was also instrumental in facilitating the strategic review of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street party, resulting in the capacity being reduced to 100,000 to ensure safe participation for all attendees.
QUEEN’S AMBULANCE SERVICE MEDAL
Paul Gowens, Lead Consultant Paramedic, Scottish Ambulance Service
Paul started his career with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) as a Care Assistant, and was one of the youngest Paramedics in Scotland. Always taking pride in his professional practice and with over 28 years’ service, he has worked within general operational practice, Special Operations and the Air Ambulance.
While working as a National Risk and Resilience Team Manager, Paul covered many major events in Edinburgh including and royal visits and Royal Week. He then became the Scottish Ambulance Service’s first Head of Clinical Governance and Patient Safety and, in this role, introduced the first iteration of Patient Safety and Clinical Risk Management initiatives within SAS. Following further training, Paul set about improving Clinical Governance and Patient Safety in the organisation and was one of the first SAS clinicians to complete Scotland’s Clinical Leadership programme.
Paul has used every opportunity to raise the profile and relevance of SAS and para-medicine across the wider NHS. He speaks and presents at numerous UK and international conferences, highlighting the Paramedic contribution to care and well-being, and has had numerous publications.
Whilst seconded to the Scottish Government as a clinical advisor, Paul was actively involved in international scoping work that led to the launch of Scotland’s first ever Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) Strategy, which was also the first national strategy in the world to promote survival from OHCA. He liaised actively between the Scottish Government, SAS and other clinicians to promote this 5 year plan, ensuring that work always remained on track. His current role is central to SAS’s success in improving outcomes from cardiac arrest, major trauma, stroke, sepsis, major incidents and mass casualties.
In 2017, after many years of active membership, Paul Gowens became Vice Chair of the UK College of Paramedics, a reflection of the high esteem in which he is held amongst his colleagues.
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