PHIL Gormley’s resignation brings to an end his short but far from glorious tenure.
He has to bear some responsibility for that with the number of personal complaints against him, though it should not detract from an otherwise distinguished career.
But, rather than hanging around Police Scotland like an unwelcome house guest, he had to go.
More of the blame rests with Andrew Flanagan, the former Chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), who appointed him but between the two of them, they sought to instil an authoritarian management culture into a Police Service.
For whilst Police Scotland remains a command and control organisation, it still expects respect to be earned not demanded. Many complaining were far from shrinking violets and instead were long serving and experienced officers.
But, both Gormley and Flanagan are now gone and a fresh start can be made.
Susan Deacon has already replaced the latter, as Chair of the SPA, and is both steadying that organisation and making her personal mark.
That’s vital as it’s that organisation, rather than the Police Scotland, that has been the source of so many of the issues damaging the wider service.
A new Chief needs appointed though it’s hard to see past the current acting Chief, Iain Livingstone.
He rescinded his planned early retirement from Senior Deputy, when Gormley went on leave. Indicative perhaps of his despair at what had previously been ongoing but testifying to his continuing commitment to the service.
Many feel he should have been appointed, last time around.
Hindsight would certainly confirm that, as Gormley’s reign has been disruptive within and disparaged without.
Livingstone was and remains remarkably popular within the service, as well as being highly rated both by it and beyond it. However, the Chair at the time seemed to demand that the appointee neither be from Scotland nor have any links with the previous leadership.
Of course, a proper recruitment process will have to be undergone in view of the past travails of the SPA. But, it’s hard to see who can match the acting Chief's experience, dedication and perhaps most importantly understanding of policing in Scotland.
So where now? With the press coverage and personality issues it's often forgotten that the fifth anniversary of the service is approaching.
There have been human errors which happen in every walk of life but in policing can have tragic consequences. Rank and file officers must have been bemused at the dysfunctionality at the top but continued the service on the ground. Police Scotland continues to provide a remarkable service despite increased pressures upon it from everything from austerity through cybercrime to terrorism.
New commands at both SPA and Police Scotland have already brought some calm and stability.
There will be minor changes to be made to structures but fundamentally this has been about personalities.
The new Chair can adapt the scrutiny organisation as she sees necessary and the new Chief unify a senior command team he’s already restructured.
Let them get on with it.
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