Police Scotland division leaders announced

• All 14 senior officers are of chief superintendent rank

• Division leaders in cities including Edinburgh and Glasgow accountable to a council

• Others set to cover areas with two or more local authorities, with more junior officers

They are all of chief superintendent rank, the highest level below chief officers, and are expected to be highly influential with greater autonomy within Police Scotland than they would have enjoyed previously.

Some, in cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, as well as Fife, and Dumfries and Galloway, will be accountable to a council.

Others will cover areas with two or more local authorities, and will have more junior officers for each council area.

The new top team includes Chief Superintendent Mark Williams in Edinburgh, Ch Supt Andy Bates in Greater Glasgow, and Ch Supt Adrian Watson in Aberdeen.

Other appointments include Ch Supt Mark McLaren, in Aberdeenshire and Moray, the Highland and Islands’ Ch Supt Julian Innes and Ch Supt Hamish Macpherson in Tayside.

Ch Supt David Flynn has been appointed to Forth Valley, Ch Supt Jeanette McDiarmid will cover the Lothians and Scottish Borders, and Ch Supt Garry McEwan will be in charge of Fife.

Ch Supt John Thomson has been appointed to Ayrshire, Ch Supt Nelson Telfer to Lanarkshire, and Ch Supt Russell Dunn to Argyll and West Lanarkshire.

The remaining areas will see Renfrewshire and Inverclyde covered by Ch Supt Alan Spiers, and Dumfries and Galloway by Ch Supt Kate Thomson

Chief Constable Steve House, of Police Scotland, said: “I am delighted we have this key team now in place. Their work is

right at the heart of the new single police service for Scotland and

will ensure that we maintain and build on the high quality of policing

already in place.

“The change to a single service offers us the opportunity to do things

better. Putting local policing at the heart of our work will help us

do this. This new team led by a dedicated Deputy Chief Constable

reflects the importance we attach to their work.”

They will all report to Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick, who is in charge of community policing.

She said: “The local commanders will work closely with communities to reflect

their concerns in highly-localised policing plans – one for every

council ward area in Scotland.

“They will be the recognisable and visible faces leading on local

policing from Shetland to the Solway Firth, across each council area

in Scotland.

“They will be responsible for ensuring the best possible service to

our communities by working with the public to identify local

priorities, tackle the issues of greatest concern and maintain the

performance which has seen record low crime levels achieved.

“Local policing, which is fully connected to our communities, is the

engine room of the single police service. We will work hard to ensure

that local connects to national and that specialist functions are

available equally throughout the country, according to demand and

need.

“I am delighted to be leading local policing in the new service at

this exciting time and look forward to the challenge of making real

improvements to your policing in communities across the country.”