Chief Constable to take up role with Border Agency

Published on Monday 21 April 2008 22:18

JOHN Vine, Chief Constable of Tayside Police, is to leave the force in the summer to take up a new role with the UK Border Agency.

Mr Vine, who has been Tayside's Chief Constable since 2000, has been appointed chief inspector of the UK Border Agency. He will analyse the agency's systems and report annually to the Home Secretary.

His appointment was announced in the Commons yesterday after being ratified by the Tayside Joint Police Board.

Mr Vine said: "It is the end of an era for me and in many ways I'll be sorry to go. It will be a very demanding role and very much in the public eye.

"I am sure the board will make a wise choice in my successor. We've got the same brilliant staff who work hard for the community," he added.

The joint board convener, Ian Mackintosh, said: "The members today approved, with some mixed feelings, the secondment of the Chief Constable John Vine to the post of chief inspector of the UK Border Agency.

"This is a prestigious post and with them choosing Mr Vine to head up the new body, the board recognises the regard he is held in by the UK government.

"Nevertheless, the board is aware it is losing the services of one of the most talented officers of his generation."

A native of Yorkshire, Mr Vine began his police career in 1981 with West Yorkshire Police before moving to the Lancashire force, where he became Assistant Chief Constable in 1996.

From July 2003 to June 2004, he was president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and at present he chairs the Acpos business areas of road and operational policing.

In 2005, Mr Vine led the policing arrangements for the G8 summit at Gleneagles.