Former drug squad chief ‘Jinty’ Kerr dies aged 63

Janet “Jinty” Kerr, a police officer who rose through the ranks to become the first female drug squad chief in Scotland has died. She was 63.

Ms Kerr, who lost a five-year struggle with cancer on 31 August, was a pioneering figure in Lothian and Borders Police force credited with helping women police officers to break through the “glass ceiling”.

She joined the force in 1968 when only 3 per cent of officers were female. By the time she retired in 2002, the figure had reached 17 per cent.

Inspired to join the police by her father, Sheriff Robert Reid Kerr, she went on to become the first woman to join the chief constable’s office, the first to be in charge of police cells in the High Street in Edinburgh, the first to be an inspector and the first chief inspector at B Division.

However, she achieved a high-profile role in 1993 becoming the first female drug squad chief in Scotland.