ONE of Scotland's most high-profile police chiefs has revealed he plans to challenge Strathclyde's Stephen House for the position as head of the new single force.
Colin McKerracher, the chief constable of Grampian Police, is the first officer to reveal he will definitely go for the £200,000-a-year top job.
Mr House, the Strathclyde Police chief constable, is considered a favourite to lead the Police Service of Scotland, which begins on April 1, 2013.
However, Mr McKerracher said: "Mr House needs to be challenged and I am keen to do that. I don't think he would want to feel it was not a competition."
The Herald revealed last week the post for Scotland's first single police force chief could be advertised as early as this month and that three men and a woman have emerged as front-runners.
In addition to Mr House, Justine Curran, chief constable of Tayside Police, John Vine, chief inspector of the UK Border Agency and ex-chief constable of Tayside, and Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers and former head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, are the main candidates.
It would be the second-biggest position in UK policing after the Metropolitan Police commissioner, and the new chief constable would oversee a budget of £1.4 billion a year and have more than 17,000 police officers and 7000 staff at his or her disposal.
Mr House and Sir Hugh narrowly missed out on the Met commissioner post to Bernard Hogan-Howe following Sir Paul Stephenson's resignation last summer in light of the phone hacking scandal.
Mr McKerracher was one of the fiercest critics of the single force plan for Scotland. He raised concerns more than 12 months ago stating that areas away from the central belt could lose out.
He said: "Having given 40 years to Scottish policing I believe I have got, and did have, a legitimate point of view.
"It was a consultation and we were asked for our views so I gave mine. I thought we could have made the savings with the eight forces. I was honest when I said I did not particularly agree with a single force.
"My CBE was for my contribution to national policing. I have a good understanding of where some of the weaknesses may be in a single force. When the original consultation took place the majority of the respondents expressed concerns about a single force. We need someone to go into this with an understanding of those fears. We need to meet all the big national and strategic needs but also be congnisant of the fears of people around the country.
"I have lived in Grampian for some time and know how it feels to be outwith the central belt. We need to ensure we also serve the needs of those in Dumfries, Kelso and Peterhead. Those communities are still concerned about the level of community policing they will receive once we move to a single force."
Ministers had said the post would not be filled until December but last week suggested it could be much earlier. The Scottish Police Federation and Association of Scottish Police Superintendents want the new chief in as early as possible.
The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill is going through the Scottish Parliament and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill suggested the post could be advertised when stage two is completed this month.
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