1111COPPERPLATE

IN THISISSUE:

MOVING ON TO PASTURES NEW • RETIRAL OF ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE BILL HARKINS • CONGRATULATIONS • OFFICERS ‘TWEET’ ON THE BEAT • FROM THE BEAT TO BOOK WRITING • THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY LIAISON

FEB

T A Y S I D E P O L I C E | S T A F F N E W S L E T T E R

www.tayside.police.uk

Representatives from Tayside Police’sR T P ’Benevolent Fund have made a donation of £5000 to the Police Treatment Centre atCastlebrae in Auchterarder.The donation was prompted by Tayside members of the Retired Police Offi cer Association (Scotland) who recognise the good work that the charity does and the benefi t that brings to the whole community of Scotland.Paul Grant, Centre Manager, accepted the cheque from the Chief Constable of Tayside Police Justine Curran, Malcolm Gibbs from the Tayside Police Federation, and Alex McKenzie from the Retired Police Offi cer’s Association. The money will be put towards modernising the facilities at Castlebrae. Sergeant Malcolm Gibbs from the Tayside Police Federation said,‘’Castlebrae treatment centre requires extensive modernisation and a larger hydrotherapy pool in particular in order that it can continue to do the fantastic work it does in getting injured offi cers back to work. ‘’The donations that offi cers make on a weekly basis keep the charity running bularge capital projects such as this need an injection of large amounts of cash. ‘’The centre has been fortunate already to have had donations from the Scottish Government, several Scottish Forces and both the national and locabranches of the Scottish Police Federation. A number of individual offi cers anformer offi cers have also organised charity events to assist in the fundraising

A CREDIT TO THE FORCEChief Constable’s Certifi cates of Merit were presented to Police Sergeant Alan Pettigrew and Police Sergeant Maggie Pettigrew at the Force’s recent awards ceremony.On the afternoon of Friday, November 20, 2009, an elderly man suffered a heart attack at the A K Bell Library in Perth. Sergeants Alan and Maggie Pettigrew were off duty and at the library with their children when Maggie saw that the man had taken ill and quickly realised that he needed help. She shouted to the library staff to call an ambulance and, as the man’s condition was deteriorating, Maggie began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. She was joined by Alan and they both continued with this for several minutes until the ambulance arrived and then remained on hand to assist the paramedics. The man was taken to hospital, by which time he had regained consciousness. Sadly, despite the efforts of all concerned, he did not respond to treatment and died a few days later in the Coronary Care Unit.

Paramedics confi rmed that without the prompt actions of Sergeants Maggie and Alan Pettigrew, the man’s chances of survival were very slim. However, he had been given the best chance of recovery due to the fi rst aid rendered at the scene.

TAYSIDE BOBBY WINS NATIONAL ‘RURAL HERO’ AWARDA Tayside policeman, who has helped hundreds of youngsters gain confi dence through learning the sport of angling, haswon the prestigious Rural Hero Award at the Scottish Countryside Alliance Awards.

Rural businesses from throughout Scotland werealso presented with SCA Awards for excellence in aceremony at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday,26 January.The SCA Rural Hero Award, recognising outstandingpersonal contributions to country life andcommunities, went to Blairgowrie Constable GrevHumphrey. In his spare time, Grev drives the activitiesof Angling for Youth Development, a charity whichhas introduced young people of all backgrounds and abilities to the sport through expert instruction ingame, course and sea fi shing.Finalists from the Borders to Aberdeenshire andthe Highlands and Islands also won SCA awards for producing local food, running village shops and post offi ces, rural enterprises, traditional businesses andpromotion of bio-diversity through country sports.The winners, nominated by the public and judged fromshortlists through personal visits by a panel of experts,will go on to represent Scotland in a Great Britain-widecompetition whose winners will be announced at aHouse of Commons ceremony.

t

al nd g.’’

www.tayside.police.uk

P02 | COPPERPLATE | FEBRUARY:2011

Moira Docherty resigned from Tayside Police as Directorof Personnel and Development at the start of Decemberlast year.Moira joined Tayside Police in 1995 having previouslyworked with Tayside Regional Council since 1984.During her time withTayside Police she has been instrumental in introducing policies and best practice for improving attendance fi gures for both police offi cers and police staff including the introduction of an independent occupationalhealthcare provider.She was also heavily involved in setting up the Force TrainingPriorities Group, ensuring that all offi cers and staff are properly trained at the right time, and by the right people.More recently, she directed the Force’s job evaluation programme which allowed Tayside Police to compare different jobs, which in turn enabled the Force to determine where jobsshould be placed on the single pay spine, thus ensuring equal pay for work of equal value.A member of the ACPOS Personnel and Training Business group, Moira was key in driving a number of national projects including the development of a national recruitment project and the introduction of a cross Force mentoring programmefor police offi cers and police staff.Tayside Police and Tayside Joint Police Board wish Moira all the best with her future career.

MOVING ON TO PASTURES NEW

CONGRATULATIONSTayside Police would like to congratulate recently retired

Special Constable Frank Buchan on being awarded the

Queen’s Police Medal. The Queen’s Police Medal (QPM)

is awarded to Police Offi cers and Special Constables in

the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for gallantry or

distinguished service. Frank was presented with his medal

at Buckingham Palace in December. His daughter Fiona

and son-in-law Andy, both serving Tayside Police offi cers,

travelled with him to London to enjoy the special occasion.

Congratulations also go to Special Constable David Martin

who is to receive a Royal Humane Society testimonial on

parchment for his actions whilst off duty assisting at a

road collision. The Testimonial on Parchment is awarded

where someone has put themselves in danger to save, or

attempt to save, someone else.

RETIRAL OF ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLEBILL HARKINSBill Harkins, theAssistant Chief Constable of TaysidePolice, will bowout of policing next month, after 32 years service.It was in 1979 that Bill joinedTayside Police as a cadetbefore joining the regulars andcarrying out beat duties acrossthe Force area.Promotions soon came his way and he worked his wayup through the ranks to reachAssistant Chief Constable, with twospells as Deputy Chief Constable.ACC Harkins has a wealth of operational policing experiencemixed with academic ability having gained a Higher NationalCertifi cate in Police Studies from Napier University and a First Class Honours in Business Studies from the University of Abertay in Dundee.Throughout his service he has worked in a number of diverse policing roles ranging from time spent in street crime units, shoplifting squads, and beat duties, to the more strategic postsof Divisional Commander, CBRN Gold Commander, FirearmsGold Commander, and Post Incident Manager.His analytical skills have seen Bill become a leader in anumber of national IT projects including his appointment as Executive lead on the Scottish Police National Database Project which recently won a Scottish Policing Award. He was alsoinstrumental in introducing the Airwave radio system, a virtual contact centre and a single non-emergency number to theForce.He was also the Executive lead for the pilot project in relation tothe highly successful Community Disclosure for Sex Offenderswhich is now being rolled out nationally.Some of his other notable achievements include his part inpolicing the G8 Summit at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder in Perthshire in 2005 where he was in charge of policing the G8Alternatives march. During his time as Divisional Commander in Angus, between 2004 and 2007, recorded crime fell to the lowest levels in a generation, whilst detection rates were amongst the best inScotland. He was also involved in policing high profi le eventssuch as the Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie.As Assistant Chief Constable of Tayside Police he has overallresponsibility for policing operations, and Headquarters CrimeManagement. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, theAssociation of Chief Police Offi cers in Scotland, and the Scottish Chief Police Offi cers Staff Association.Bill has a leadership style that inspired confi dence and respect with a unique blend of operational policing experience mixed with real strategic thinking. Tayside Police and Tayside Joint Police Board wish him well in his retirement from policing.

www.tayside.police.uk

FEBRUARY:2011 | COPPERPLATE | P03

OFFICERS ‘TWEET’ ON THE BEATCommunity police offi cers in theSouth Perthshire area have been tweeting on the beat as Tayside Police trials a number of social media options aimed at enhancing local policing and community engagement.

The three month pilot is seeing communityoffi cers in Auchterarder, Crieff, and Kinross‘tweeting’ on the beat providing their localcommunities with up-dates on police surgeries,crime prevention advice, road and traffi cinformation, campaigns, and other communitypolicing issues.Deputy Chief Constable of Tayside Police andNational Lead for Digital and Social MediaEngagement, Gordon Scobbie, said,‘’Tayside Police has frequently been at theforefront of new policing methods and wehave already experimented with Social Mediato good effect on a number of occasions. Forexample, during a recent spate of suicidesin the Dundee area we used Facebook as aneffective way of engaging with friends of theyoung people involved. ‘’Effective engagement is at the heart ofpolicing in Tayside. The revolution in digitaltechnology means that people are engagingwith services at their own convenience and inthe manner, medium and at a time which suitsthem.‘’Many Forces are now realising thattraditional methods of getting messagesout, which we have relied on in the past, arehaving less impact and are reaching fewerpeople. Simply ‘broadcasting’ messages bywhichever channel, is no longer enough. Whatreally makes a difference is giving peoplethe opportunity to engage in a two wayconversation with the police about things thatmatter to them.‘’Social networking has exploded globally withsites such as Facebook and Twitter having over150 million users Worldwide, half of whom usethe service on a daily basis.‘’Easy access to technology, inexpensive‘always on’ broadband connections and thegrowing use of mobile internet means that anonline presence is part of our everyday lives.‘’Twitter is particularly important in sharingbreaking news and frequently posts storiesbefore they are reported in the moretraditional media forms. This could proveto be extremely useful in local communitieswhere early warning of road closures orincidents could help to avoid delays andspeculation. It also allows us to havemeaningful two way conversations which givesthe public an instant voice on how policing isbeing delivered in their area.‘’We need to embrace this form ofcommunication because if we don’t engagewith people via social media they will move onwithout us and we will miss the opportunity toinfl uence them, making it much more diffi cultto re-engage with them later.

‘’We also need to communicate more effectivelywith members of the public to let them knowwhat we’re doing. After all, nobody is going tobe confi dent in an organisation who they don’thear from and who they can’t engage with.’’As part of Tayside Police’s social mediaexperiment, the Force is also trialling MyPolice– www.tayside.mypolice.org - an onlinefeedback tool designed to enable the public tohave an on-line conversation with the police.The MyPolice service offers those, who do notwish to contact the Force directly, an additionalway to give feedback and opinion on policingin their area. Whilst information provided tothe service by the public is moderated by non-police personnel, it will be passed on to TaysidePolice.Deputy Chief Constable Scobbie added,‘’We are the fi rst Police Service in the UK totrial an independent on-line feedback toolthat allows the public to raise issues and tobe given an answer. We hope this improvedaccess to community offi cers and the ability toleave comments, both negative and positive,

will help us improve our local policing by beingresponsive to local concerns and by providingspeedy feedback to the public.’’‘’At the end of the trial we will evaluate our use of both Twitter and MyPolice and see whether or not we wish to continue with these tools inthe future.’’The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, said,‘‘The Scottish Government recognises that it is vital that communities are empowered to participate in the planning of local strategies, and feel a sense of ownership of what happenswithin those communities. A variety ofinitiatives are underway to encourage this - for example the Community Wellbeing ChampionsInitiative, sponsored by both Scottishgovernment and COSLA, provides a realopportunity for communities to make decisionson how resources locally are used to combatantisocial behaviour. Twitter and MyPolice will provide a further opportunity for meaningfulconversation and Scottish Government awaitsthe results of the pilot with interest.’’

P04 | COPPERPLATE | FEBRUARY:2011

www.tayside.police.uk DESIGNED & PRODUCED BY: hbrutherford

Copperplate is a staff magazine – whether you u ara e tat f

a police offi cer or member of support staff, your

opinions count. That is why we would like to hear

from you with any news, views or suggestions that

you would like to see published in Copperplate.

If you have a story idea, please contact Sarah

or Damon in the Corporate Communications

Department on;

Telephone: Sarah (01382) 596730

E-Mail: sarah.craig@tayside.pnn.police.uk

Telephone: Damon (01382) 596731

E-Mail: damon.rhind.@tayside.pnn.police.uk

Special Branch training - Superintendent Athol Aitken,Central Command Team.Thicket v Thickset - Superintendent Athol Aitken, Central Command Team.Police examine the new FIFA standard security barriers forBrechin City Football Club - Superintendent Athol Aitken, Central Command Team.Tut tut offi cer....that’ll be a £40 fi xed penalty notice. - C Chalmers, Force Control Room.Now where’s that scamp ‘Wullie’ hiding now asked PC Murdoch. - C Chalmers, Force Control Room.Should never have had that last cup of tea - L Smith, Brechin Police Station.

Here are some of the

captions we received

for the photograph that

appeared in the last

edition of the magazine.

For the next edition of Copperplate we’d like

some suitable captions for this photograph

of Inspector Carol

Brown who looks

decidedly unhappy

about the choice of

colour scheme in

her new offi ce.

E-Mail your caption

suggestions to

Sarah Craig or

Damon Rhind in

the Corporate

Communications

Department.

ions for this photograph

f

n

Willie Macfarlane, former Tayside Police Officer and now Curator of the PoliceMuseum, has published hisfirst book.Entitled “The History of the Perthshire & Kinross-shire Constabularies”, the bookcovers the period 1836 until the late 1970’s and sets out how the three police forces of Perthshire, Kinross-shire and Blairgowrie Burgh were formed and how they eventually became one.Willie takes a humorous look at each Chief Constable and describes some of the challenges they faced, the vastgeographical area that they covered andhow no transport and a lack of radio or telephony made it impossible for theChiefs to communicate with their men. From the Great War period and howthe Special Constabulary came to the fore, to the very fi rst police promotionexams, the book contains something for all serving and retired offi cers oranyone with an interest in the history of local policing.It’s also packed with around 70 black and white pictures, featuring longforgotten and some not so forgotten policemen, former police buildingsin Perthshire and Kinross-shire, old police vehicles, and items of old policeequipment.The book is on sale now for £10 and can be obtained directly from Willie atthe Police Museum or at The Bookshop, Allan Street, Blairgowrie.

FROM THE BEAT TO BOOK WRITING

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY LIAISONFamily Liaison is a very important role within Tayside Police and is being used on a more regular basis, more so over the last few years.There are a range of different deployments where a Family Liaison Offi cer (FLO) may be requested, such as during murder enquiries, fatal road collisions, kidnap and extortion cases, mass fatalities, child or cot deaths, any suspicious deaths and drugs deaths. The list is not exhaustive and there are a number of other cases where a FLO may be requested and deployed.The role of a FLO is a demanding one which requires a great deal of tact, common sense and excellent communication skills. It should be borne in mind that extensive training is provided for the role with continued refresher courses throughout the year.There are still, however, misconceptions that a FLO is there to act as a bereavement counsellor, make the family endless cups of tea and give them cuddles to make them feel better – this is not the case.The FLO is a vital part of the enquiry team and their primary role is as an investigator, working in conjunction with the enquiry team and the Senior Investigation Offi cer (SIO).At present there are 20 trained Family Liaison Offi cers within Tayside Police covering the whole force area. To date this year they have been deployed in excess of 50 incidents. Constable Leanne Gregge, one of the Family Liaison Co-Ordinators in Force, said,‘’Although the role of a FLO is voluntary there are often times when you can be called upon outwith normal hours and this should be considered by those wishing to take on the role. It can be very demanding and at times stressful but it can also be exceptionally rewarding.’’Anyone who is interested in becoming a FLO or looking for more information can contact any of the co-ordinators;Constable Leigh-Ann Gregge Ext: 2616

Inspector Carol-Ann Brown Ext: 6534

Sergeant Graham Young Ext: 6653