POLICE watchdogs have been urged to prepare to launch a hunt for a new chief constable after Scotland’s top police officer was hit by a misconduct probe.
Phil Gormley, who is half way through a three year contract, is under investigation after he allegedly shouted at an aide.
The 53-year-old senior officer is not expected to try to extend his stay in Scotland as he continues to live ‘above the shop’ at Police Scotland’s Tulliallan Castle HQ in Fife. The move suggests he has no long-term plans to remain beyond his contract.
Former SNP justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has warned of a potential ‘leadership gap’ with Mr Gormley’s most obvious replacement, his designated deputy Iain Livingstone announcing his retirement last week.
Civilian watchdog, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), will be responsible for naming the next chief but must first find its own chairman. Its current head. Andrew Flanagan, has also announced he is leaving after being berated in Holyrood for running the organisation like “the Kremlin”
Mr MacAskill said: “The chief constable was not expected to extend his contract so at some stage soon, whoever takes over at the SPA will have to consider the process for recruitment.
“I am not saying that Mr Gormley will not be exonerated or that he will fall on his sword, just that time is coming when preparations for recruitment of next leader will begin.”
Police insiders stress that the next chief constable could have a major sway on Scottish policing as it enacts its long-term strategy to see it to 2026.
The force is facing substantial budget constraints and increasingly complex challenges, such as more reports of sex crimes and domestic violence or the rise in dementia-related missing persons cases.
Allegations against Mr Gormley, made by a superintendent on his own staff, will take weeks or months to be investigated by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.
The SPA, which asked Pirc to look in to the matter, would have to consider any actionable findings, possibly at a misconduct hearing.
Similar claims against Scotland’s small group of elite chief officers are not unusual. There were 17 complaints made to the SPA between April and June alone, the watchdog said yesterday.
Investigations can be time-consuming. A 2015 allegation of misconduct against Assistant Chief constable Wayne Mawson took a year to resolve.
Mr Mawson was moved from an operational job before being reinstated after being found not guilty of cheating on a command course.
Recruiting a chief constable can also take time. Mr Gormley’s predecessor, Sir Stephen House, announced it would stand down early in August 2015. It took until early December to name Mr Gormley as his successor before he took up the post in January last year.
After Mr Livingstone’s announcement that he too was to retire, aged just 50, the SPA condemned speculation of a clear-out at the top of the force as “warm beer”.
Mr Gormley’s two other deputies, Johnny Gwynne and Rose Fitzpatrick, were last week reported to be ready to leave too each having served more than 30 years in the police.
Both, however, are tipped as potential successors.
The SPA spokeswoman said: “DCC Gwynne is less than a year into his appointment. DCC Fitzpatrick agreed last year to a further one year extension to provide continuity as the new leadership team bedded in.
“So we have a strong and recently refreshed leadership team in Police Scotland and suggestions otherwise would be so much warm beer. “
Before news of Mr Gormley’s misconduct investigation emerged on Wednesday, the police oversight body said it would be working the chief constable to look at succession management issues.
Mr Gormley has issued a statement saying he remains focused on his day job. The Conservatives have claimed the investigation would “undermine confidence in our police force”. Policing insiders countered that not treating what amount to bullying allegations seriously could cause more long-term damage. Sources stress the courage of the complainer, who is a a highly experienced officer, for raising difficult issues.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel