THERE are six people applying to take over from Sir Stephen House as the next chief constable of Police Scotland.
We wish well to whoever is appointed to the post. It is a job that comes with many challenges.
The new chief constable will find themself dealing with the aftermath of a force bludgeoned by targets.
It is a force whose management have found their decisions, including those on armed policing and stop and search, constantly scrutinised by the media – The National included.
The new chief will have to be prepared to deal with what, if anything, comes out of the Police Investigations Review Commissioner’s 10 enquiries into the force. They will have to deal with the aftermath of the death in custody of Sheku Bayoh and the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill on the M9.
They will have to be ready for a Scottish Parliament election in seven months for which the force, law and order and civil liberties will undoubtedly be key issues for the parties.
They will have to deal with the £25 million black hole at the heart of Police Scotland’s finances. As much as it is unfair that they are the only force in the UK to pay VAT, even if they were warned beforehand, it is, depressingly, increasingly unlikely the Treasury will shift on that position any time soon.
But perhaps most importantly, the new chief will have to deal with a workforce where morale is beyond rock bottom.
It is a force where, as the recent survey indicated, one-third of staff want to leave. It is a police service where the rank-and-file officers do not feel management are genuinely interested in their wellbeing. They do not feel valued in their jobs. They feel let down by a pension scheme that sees them pay in more and take out less.
Talk to any police officer based outside Glasgow and they will tell you about the Strathclyde-isation of the force. Whoever gets the top job will have to truly be a chief for the whole of Scotland.
At £212,000 a year it may be a well-rewarded job, but whoever gets it will have to work hard to earn every penny.
At two years old Police Scotland is still finding its feet. Whoever becomes the new chief constable will have only a little time to help get the force up on its feet, walking and running.
‘No pots of gold’ to bail force out of money woes
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