WATCH: Chief Constable Phil Gormley addresses challenges facing Police Scotland
Chief Constable Phil Gormley says he believes Police Scotland is the ``right policing model'' for the country.
Chief Constable Phil Gormley says he believes Police Scotland is the right policing model'' for the country.
Mr Gormley was sworn in as the new chief constable for the force one year ago after it was announced that he would take over the job from Sir Stephen House on a three-year contract.
Speaking on Bauer Radio's Scotland's Talk In programme on Sunday, he answered questions from callers on a range of issues.
When asked by the programme's host, Ally Bally, when he had last been out on patrol on the streets of the country, it was revealed that Mr Gormley went out in uniform with officers policing the Old Firm match on December 31 and took part in the policing operation of Edinburgh's Hogmanay.
He also said that he had visited the incident room in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire for an update on a the murder of a 23-year-old man following a deliberate house fire on New Year's Day.
He went on to talk about some of the other challenges faced by Police Scotland.
Mr Gormley said: I believe - otherwise I wouldn't have come up here - that the policing model is the right one for this country.
The opportunity and the professional challenge to be able to come and contribute to what I think is the right policing model for the future was irresistible.
Police Scotland are providing a world class service. I was speaking to the former Lord Advocate Frank Mullholland when I first arrived and what he was saying to me was that since the creation of Police Scotland the overall standard of major investigations is light years ahead of where it was.
There are clearly great examples but that ability for us to provide real top end investigative capability anywhere across this nation - now that simply wasn't available under the previous arrangements.''
Speaking of the current and future challenges facing the force he mentioned balancing the provision of top-quality policing against serious organised crime and new cyber crime developments whilst also providing a local service across all of Scotland's communities.
He said: I think one of the big challenges over the next stages of the journey of Police Scotland is making sure that we have got a local service that is valued, recognised and held to account by local people - that's the big challenge for us and I recognise it.
It's that balance between providing really top quality protection from those very serious threats whilst providing a local service in local communities that is tailored to their environment.
I have been all over Scotland over the past year and I've been amazed at the diversity of life here.For example if you try to police Kirkwall like you police Glasgow, then you are unlikely to be successful.
It is about how we organise ourselves as a service over the next few years to produce a model of policing that is both sustainable in terms of finances and fit for purpose operationally to confront the crime, disorder and social challenges that are now coming our way.
Mental health, dementia and the changing nature of the population are all going to throw up real issues for policing over the next few years.''