At midnight tonight, 31st March, 2013, Grampian Police along with the other seven forces in Scotland no longer exist. Anything with the above logo on it will be cast aside, thrown out or stashed as a keepsake to make way for a dream dreamt in Holyrood of one national police force under central control.
Grampian Police was formed on 16 May 1975 when the former forces of Aberdeen City Police and the Scottish North Eastern Counties Constabulary (SNECC) amalgamated on the re-organisation of local government.
Mr Colin McKerracher was appointed Chief Constable of Grampian Police on 12 April 2004 and leaves today proud of the force he hands over to Police Scotland.
Since joining Grampian Police, Mr McKerracher has been instrumental in achieving a more community based policing approach across the Force. This function came to fruition when the Force introduced a community focussed policing model under the banner “Local Policing, closer to you”. This model provides dedicated Local Policing Teams in each of the 24 local policing areas across the Force. He has ensured that national best practice and policy has been adopted by the Force to help reduce road traffic collisions and casualties.
He had overall responsibility for the policing of offshore installations, Royal residences on Deeside, as well as Aberdeen International Airport.
Of his many ambitions for Grampian Police, he believed primarily in developing an integrated organisational and planning structure capable of supporting community based policing to achieve real outcomes that meet community needs. Core to this, he challenged historical practice, focussed minds on the empowerment and development of staff and he reintroduced the Police Cadet Scheme to Grampian Police, having identified the benefits to both the Force and youth in the local community.
There remains a wealth of experienced and dedicated officers who will now work under two divisions locally: Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire and Moray. I know that our local teams are adopting a “business as usual” attitude and will continue to serve our communities. Semper Vigilo will prevail.
The full impact though on police numbers, pay and conditions remains to be seen and it is widely reported that the bill was ill-thought out and rushed through. Joint police boards which up to now have played an effective scrutiny role are disbanded and just how much input into local policing plans local elected members will have is unclear.
Whether April Fools Day 2013 is remembered for the Scottish Government’s folly for policing in Scotland remains to be seen. I hope not. We need to make it work.