Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Former police officer praised for hitting out

Former police officer praised for hitting out

A former senior police officer who broke ranks to deliver a scathing assessment of the management of Police Scotland has been praised for her “courage” by a Perth councillor.

A past member of Tayside Joint Police Board, Alexander Stewart, said he agreed with Angela Wilson, the former assistant chief constable for the Tayside force, on her views on current policing and felt there had been a negative impact locally.

In an interview with The Courier, Ms Wilson accused Chief Constable Sir Stephen House of dictating the way policing is run in Scotland.

Mr Stewart said “It was my privilege to be a senior member of Tayside Joint Police Board for many years prior to the creation of Police Scotland.

“During my time on the board, we encouraged many projects that had a real community policing emphasis and our key watchword was accountability.

“Tayside was seen as a pioneering force that had the public at its heart and could boast of 10 years of continuous reductions in many crimes.

“We were big enough to matter but small enough to care for our communities and most importantly people knew who was making the decisions.

“Now with the creation of Police Scotland serious questions are being asked about scrutiny and governance.

“In recent months we have watched the debacle over whether to allow the police to carry weapons on routine duties, whether they should be allowed to stop and search young children and whether it is appropriate to adopt a style of policing many people argue is much more suited to somewhere like the old Strathclyde area.

“Central to all these issues is the effectiveness of our police and whether or not the decision-making process is wholly transparent and accountable.

“Well, in Perth and rural Perthshire, serious questions are now being asked.

“The community policing focus that had been so successful has been abandoned and fewer ‘bobbies’ are out on the beat.

“All the partnership working that had been so pioneering and successful was replaced with a ‘one size fits all’ approach with a top-down policy which is so out of touch with what is required.

“I would like to pay tribute to Angela Wilson for having the courage to express her candid views which have resonated with so many individuals and communities because one size does not fit all and the public are losing confidence in Police Scotland.”