Tayside Police’s last chief constable has been given a top job in England after being passed over for a promoted post in Scotland’s new unified police force.
Justine Curran (45) has been proposed as the new chief constable for Humberside Police, an area that includes parts of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and which has a population of nearly 900,000.
Ms Curran, who has been chief constable of Tayside Police since February 2010, will replace Tim Hollis, who retires in March.
She will receive a salary of £139,119, around £15,000 more than she currently earns.
Although her post as chief constable of Tayside Police is effectively being made redundant by the merger of Scotland’s eight forces, she will not receive any pay-off or leaving package.
Had she not won another job then Ms Curran would have been entitled to claim her £124,000 salary for the next four years, even without a promoted position in the unified Scottish police force.
Ms Curran had applied for the chief constable job with Police Scotland but lost out to Stephen House.
She said: “I am delighted to be put forward as the new chief constable of Humberside Police.
“I look forward to moving to the area with my family and getting down to work in this important and challenging role.”
Humberside police and crime commissioner Matthew Grove said: “I am delighted to have secured the services of an outstanding leader with a proven track record.
Born in Sheffield, Ms Curran joined Greater Manchester Police in 1988 and served in a number of posts before moving to Merseyside Police, where she became the operating superintendent for Toxteth.
She returned to Manchester in 2003 where she spent the next six years.
She was appointed deputy chief constable of Tayside Police in February 2009, taking the top a year later when Kevin Mathieson stepped down.
Tayside Joint Police Board convener Jimmy Black said he was disappointed there was no role for Ms Curran in Police Scotland.
He said: “She is a very effective leader and has done a very good job in Tayside. She will serve the people of Humberside well.”
He continued: “Humberside has got a good leader and they’ve chosen very well.”
However, Ms Curran’s tenure on Tayside has not been without controversy.
In September last year she was embarrassed after an internal probe discovered she had sent text messages to her former PA about the size of a colleague’s manhood.
Another investigation was carried out after an anonymous three-page document listing a raft of complaints about her behaviour was submitted to The Courier and then passed to Tayside Police. She was cleared of all allegations made against her.
For a special feature on the future of policing in Scotland, see Thursday’s Courier or try our new digital edition.