Policing Scotland Summit - Confirmed speakers

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KEITH AITKEN (CHAIR) *Journalist and Broadcaster*	Keith Aitken is an award-winning writer and broadcaster, and one of Scotland’s most experienced conference facilitators. His busy freelance business encompasses newspaper and magazine journalism, radio presenting, speech-writing, pod-casting, drafting corporate publications, and chairing all manner of public debates. Since turning freelance in 1995, he has been a columnist for the Scotsman, the Herald and Scotland on Sunday. He currently writes a weekly column in the Scottish Daily Express, for which he also compiles a hugely popular weekly prize crossword. An accomplished author, he has contributed chapters on Scottish affairs to various books, and written a critically-acclaimed history of the STUC, The Bairns o’ Adam. Prior to 1995, he spent 16 years at the Scotsman in a succession of senior editorial posts, including parliamentary correspondent, labour correspondent, industrial editor, economics editor, chief leader writer, and opinion editor. He is a graduate of Edinburgh University and a Trustee of the Scottish Mining Museum.


CC KEVIN SMITH President Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS)	Kevin Smith joined Strathclyde Police in September 1977 when he was posted to ‘G’ Division, serving from Orkney Street, Govan. Rising through the ranks, he worked on the Lockerbie Enquiry, in Special Branch and as Divisional Commander in the East End of Glasgow. He was appointed Assistant Chief Constable - Territorial Policing in 2005, where he had overall responsibility for all operational policing, including community policing, throughout the force area. He was appointed Chief Constable of Central Scotland Police in October 2008. In April this year, Mr Smith was appointed as President of ACPOS and he continues to chair the ACPOS Road Policing Business Area.


CLLR. PAT WATTERS CBE President COSLA	Councillor Watters first entered local government in 1982 as a member for East Kilbride serving on Strathclyde Regional Council where he became Chair of Personnel, a position which he retained when moving to South Lanarkshire Council in 1995. Councillor Watters was elected COSLA President for an historic third term in June 2007. He was first elected COSLA President in October 2001, and then again in 2003 having served as Vice President since June 1999. He was, until elected President, also COSLA’s Spokesperson for Personnel Resources and local government’s Lead Negotiator at both national and local level, instrumental in negotiating the Scottish Single Status Agreement. He is Chair of the Scottish Strategy Forum for Local Authority Employees and Vice Chair of the National Joint Committee for Fire. Councillor Watters was one of the leading members of the Education Management Side which successfully negotiated the historic McCrone agreement on Teachers’ Pay and Conditions. He was also instrumental in achieving a solution to the UK wide fire dispute in 2003. Within his own Council, South Lanarkshire, in his capacity as Chair of Corporate Resources, he has been responsible for developing the Council’s family-friendly policies that are an example to other employers in the area and has been responsible for pioneering the recent award of Investors in People to the Council’s Personnel Services function, a first in Scotland. Not satisfied with “spreading the word” within Britain, he is involved in personnel issues across Europe. Councillor Watters is married with two grown-up children. A well respected figure in Scottish Public Life, Councillor Watters enjoys reading, walking and cooking. He was awarded the CBE in the 2006 New Year Honours.


ACC ALISTAIR FINLAY Operational Support Department Police Service of Northern Ireland	In October 2011 ACC Finlay took on responsibility for Operational Support Department. In his current role Alistair is responsible for uniformed specialist resources, including specialist search, public order and roads policing. From 2008 to 2011 ACC Alistair Finlay was in charge of the policing of Urban Region: an area of 2943 square kilometres and a population of 890,300. This is delivered through 4 District Command Units each led by a Chief Superintendent. ACC Alistair Finlay joined the PSNI in 2006 from Strathclyde Police and his first two years were spent in the Crime Support Department dealing with legacy issues – public enquiries, inquests and murder review through the Historical Enquiry Team and the Retrospective Murder Review Unit. Born in Scotland, Alistair began his policing career with the Strathclyde Police in 1982. He is a law graduate of Glasgow University, and also holds a postgraduate qualification in criminology.


ANDREW LAING *HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland*	Andrew Laing (47) was appointed Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland on 1st December 2010 having been Deputy Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary since March 2009. He joined Lothian and Borders Police in 1982. Over the following 20 years he undertook uniform operational roles in Edinburgh and West Lothian. During this time he held posts within IT, performance management, policy and research, introduced the new Scottish Fingerprint Service and developed Lothian and Borders' Force Contact Centre. In 2003 he moved, on secondment, to Northumbria Constabulary where held responsibility for Marine Policing, Air Support, Transit Policing, Public Order, dog and mounted sections, before transferring to BCU Commander for Newcastle West. Andrew then transferred to Fife Constabulary in 2004 and took up post as Chief Superintendent for Central Division and in 2008 took on responsibility for Operational Policing in Fife as Temporary Assistant Chief Constable, before being appointed Deputy Chief Constable in March 2009. He has led on Licensing Policy, Management of Sex Offenders, Regulation of the Private Security Industry and Leadership Development for ACPOS.


CH INSP. LES GRAY Chairman Scottish Police Federation	Chief Inspector Les Gray has been the Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) for the last two years. He is heavily involved in negotiations on pay, allowances and pensions for officers across the UK. He works on police reform and has a special interest in how it will affect police officers. Les is Scotland’s representative on the Police Dependent’s Trust. He has been a vocal critic of football related hooliganism and sectarianism. He joined Strathclyde Police as a cadet in 1978 and has served in numerous posts throughout his career. He has been a SPF representative for 15 years.


PROF. JOHN MCNEILL *Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland*	John McNeill was appointed by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill as the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland in July 2009 and took up office in August that year. As Police Complaints Commissioner he provides independent scrutiny of the way the police handle non-criminal complaints from the public. He has powers to direct police forces to re-examine any complaints that he considers have not been dealt with properly. Professor McNeill is a member of the Northern Ireland Probation Board and is an independent member of the Service Complaints Panel acting for the Army Board. He holds visiting professorships at Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Chester and the University of Ulster and is an Honorary Professor at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. He was previously a prison governor in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, Chief Executive of the Scottish Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders, a member of the Parole Board for England and Wales, the Risk Management Authority, the Civil Nuclear Police Authority and a Human Rights Commissioner in Scotland.


ACC FIONA TAYLOR Operational Support Strathclyde Police	In March 2009, Fiona Taylor was appointed Assistant Chief Constable (Operational Support) with responsibility for Support Services, Emergencies Planning, Events Planning, Road Policing and Force Communications. Fiona Taylor graduated in 1988 with an honours degree in Horticulture and worked as a horticultural consultant for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for five years until joining Lincolnshire Police in 1993. She served her probation at Lincoln and was promoted to sergeant in 1996, working throughout the county. She also worked as a custody sergeant in the force’s main custody suite at Lincoln and spent 15 months as a detective sergeant. She was promoted to inspector in 1999 onto a project to rationalise communications within the force. At the conclusion of that project she became sector inspector at Grantham. In 2001, Mrs Taylor was promoted to chief inspector and seconded to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Wakefield to conduct basic command unit inspections in the north of England. She returned to Lincolnshire in 2002 to take up the chief inspector operations role in Lincoln. On promotion to superintendent in 2003, she joined Lothian and Borders Police where she managed response policing within the City of Edinburgh. She then took over the Central Local Police Area (LPA) within Lothian and Borders’ ‘A’ Division in July 2004. She moved to Corporate Development in November 2005 and took over as department head in July 2006. In 2007, she was promoted to chief superintendent in Operations Division with responsibility for Specialist Operations (firearms, mounted, dogs, public order, CBRN search and marine policing), Operations Support (emergency planning, events planning, licensing, security and protection and divisional intelligence), the Force Communications Centre, and Road Policing. During her last year at Lothian and Borders, she served as Temporary Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Territorial Policing. Mrs Taylor is married to a retired police officer. In her spare time she does a lot of walking with her two dogs and enjoys mountain biking and reading.