Grampian Police scoops nine prizes at first ever Scottish Policing Awards

Grampian Police has been recognised at the highest level at the inaugural Scottish Policing Awards, picking up nine prizes.

The awards, held at the Scottish Police College on 20 October 2009, are designed to recognise the work done by police forces across the country and to celebrate exceptional initiatives run by officers and staff.

Grampian Police received an outstanding contribution award for the pioneering development of a missing persons profiling toolkit. This ground-breaking project is helping to improve police understanding and response during missing persons enquiries and has involved years of rigorous research work and planning.

On 4 October 2009, the toolkit received an honourable mention award as part of the Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference, held in Denver Colorado.

The toolkit has also been extensively used and commended throughout the UK and the UK National Police Improvement Agency's Missing Person Bureau is to take this work forward to formalise its role in national policy and practice.

At the Tulliallan ceremony, the force also received five highly commended Scottish policing awards for a number of high profile initiatives. These included Operation Lochnagar, the force's largest ever crackdown on street-level drug dealers in Aberdeen and Operation Piston, which targeted young anti-social driving in a bid to cut the number of young people killed or seriously injured on the roads.

Also highly commended were: Aberdeenshire diversity officer PC Derek Allison, who led a racism and homophobia awareness-raising project for young people; the recent expansion of the custody suite at Fraserburgh police station and the One Minute of Justice initiative, which informs staff on changes to criminal justice.

Three other Grampian Police developments received commendation awards, including: the junior warden scheme in Peterhead; the practical training scheme for probationary officers and the Moray divisional development team.

Chief Constable Colin McKerracher said: "Grampian Police's success at the Scottish Policing Awards reflects the force's commitment to delivering an outstanding service to the communities of north east Scotland.

"I am extremely proud that the force has been recognised at this level. The nine awards we have picked up showcases the excellent standard of innovation, determination and professionalism of Grampian Police staff, all of which are helping make a tangible difference to policing in the north east.

"I would like to congratulate all of those recognised at the Scottish Policing Awards, all of whom should be rightly proud of their achievements."

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill MSP, who was present at the awards, said: "These policing awards highlight many examples of how our police officers and staff across Scotland work tirelessly to serve their communities. The excellent service they provide is clear in the recent crime stats which show crime at its lowest level for nearly 30 years.

"I congratulate Grampian Police on their success which recognises the work going on by the force to tackle crime and reassure members of the community.

"The Scottish Government is committed to providing our police forces with the resources to make our communities safer and stronger and that is what we are doing with record numbers of officers serving our communities.

"By working in partnership we can continue to deliver effective policing for the people of Scotland."