Tag: Bravery and Excellence Awards

Bravery and excellence celebrated at Police Scotland

The outstanding achievements and bravery of Police Scotland officers and staff and members of the public was recognised and celebrated yesterday (Friday, 19 February).

The Chief Constable’s Bravery and Excellence Awards was held virtually due to the pandemic, with officers and staff and award winners and their families able to view the ceremony remotely from across the country.

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone QPM presented 25 Bravery awards to 31 police officers and 16 members of the public.

Among those receiving an award were:

• PC David Murdoch, PC Phoebe Pritchard, PC Michael Shields and PC Allan Wardrop who bravely entered a building on fire on Ayr High Street in May 2020. The building was well alight and many residents were asleep due to the time of day. Their courageous actions led to the rescue of many people and prevented any loss of life.

PC David Murdoch, PC Phoebe Pritchard, PC Michael Shields and PC Allan Wardrop
• Detective Constable Glynn Powell who entered the Water of Leith while off duty and to rescue a three-year-old child who had fallen into the river in September 2020. He administered emergency first aid after pulling the child to safety. The girl went on to make a full recovery.

• Dr George Parsonage who has been involved in more than 2000 rescues on the River Clyde over the course of 40 years’ involvement with the Glasgow Humane Society. He has worked closely with police and the other emergency services throughout this time and his expertise in river rescue is highly renowned.

DR George Parsonage

Mr Livingstone also presented Excellence awards to 15 individuals and teams in 11 separate categories.

• Police Officer of the Year was named as Detective Inspector Michael McCullagh of the Cybercrime Investigations Unit for his instrumental work in helping develop the overall understanding of cybercrime in Scotland.

• Policing Partner of the Year was awarded to Castlerock Edinvar team leader Cheryl Neill. She worked closely with community officers to reduce anti-social behaviour and improve living standards at social housing run by the social landlord in Edinburgh.

• Team of the Year was awarded jointly to Dumfries and Galloway Division CID and the National Wildlife Crime Unit for their investigation into poisoning incidents involving birds of prey in the Stewartry area. This investigation led to an individual being convicted of wildlife crime offences.

• Police Scotland’s voluntary officers were also honoured, with Special Constable Stuart Anderson and Special Constable Lee McWhinney jointly named Special Constable of the Year.

SPC Anderson became the first special constable to lead a drugs operation in his home area of Fife, while SPC McWhinney gave more than 1000 hours of voluntary service over 12 months in West Dunbartonshire and has now joined Police Scotland as a probationary officer.

Special Constable Stuart Anderson and Special Constable Lee McWhinney

Mr Livingstone said: “The last 12 months have underlined the relentless and challenging nature of policing.

“Officers and staff are playing a crucial role supporting the national response to coronavirus. At the same time, they continue to meet the needs of our communities, providing day-to-day policing and responding to a number of demanding and high profile incidents.

“Today is an important opportunity to recognise and celebrate the outstanding policing which occurs all over Scotland, day in, day out, and to commend members of the public for the selfless acts of bravery and courage to help their fellow citizens.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all our winners and nominees and thank them for their commitment to public service.

“I’m also grateful to Police Mutual for their continued support of this important event.”


Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf said: “The Bravery and Excellence Awards allow us to reflect on selfless acts of courage which have made a real difference to people at their greatest time of need and to recognise the innovative and high quality work by officers and staff from across the Service, the Scottish Police Authority and other partners.

“I want to thank all the officers, staff and members of the public, who were nominated for awards, for their service and support in these challenging times.

“I have always been proud of the dedication shown by our police officers and police staff, to keep us all safe, and the current pandemic has highlighted that the police workforce is highly adaptable in its response to new challenges.”


Martyn Evans, Chair of the Scottish Police Authority, said: “Congratulations to all today’s winners and to those nominated for awards. These are truly extraordinary times but Police Scotland’s officers and staff continue to excel in challenging circumstances.

“Today’s awards ceremony gives us the opportunity to celebrate just a small number of examples of bravery and courage but we at the Authority acknowledge that examples like these are being carried out across Scotland on a daily basis as officers and staff work alongside partners and members of the public to keep Scotland’s communities safe.”

Sir Jon Murphy QPM DL LLB (Hons), chairman of the Police Mutual Oversight Committee, said: “Each nominee is a credit to their family and friends, their communities, and the police service.

“We are always proud of your outstanding demonstrations of courage and I am delighted to also be able to recognise bravery and excellence in policing through our sponsorship of these awards.”


Corinne Porter, relationship manager for Police Mutual, Scotland, Northern Ireland and north England, said: “It is an honour for Police Mutual to be sponsoring the Police Scotland Chief Constable’s Bravery & Excellence Awards and I, along with all my colleagues, would like to offer our thanks to those who were nominated for your achievements as well as congratulations to the winners.

“Thank you for continuing to inspire us in all that you do.”

The Excellence Award winners are:

Equality Award – Detective Constables James Dainton and Alison Fraser (North East Division)

Policing Partner of the Year – Ms Cheryl Neill – Castlerock Edinvar (Edinburgh City Division)

Team of the Year – Dumfries CID and National Wildlife Crime Unit (Dumfries and Galloway Division and Specialist Crime Division)
Police Officer of the Year – Detective Inspector Michael McCullagh (Specialist Crime Division)

Probationary Constable of the Year – Constable Amy Ritchie (Edinburgh City Division)

Police Member of Staff of the Year – Ms Sheena Brennan (Corporate Services Division)

Special Constable of the Year – Special Constable Stuart Anderson (Fife Division) & Special Constable Lee McWhinney (Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Division)

Police Scotland Unsung Hero Award – Ms Susanne Carmichael (Specialist Crime Division)

Wellbeing Award – Ms Jackie Tindal and Sergeant Sandra Fleming (Corporate Services Division)

The Bravery Award winners are:

Constables James Will, Alison Davis and Dayle Crawford (North East Division)

Master Nathan Anderson-Moores (The Lothians and Scottish Borders)

Mr Gerrard Morrison (Renfrewshire and Inverclyde)

Sebastian Williams (Argyll and West Dunbartonshire)
Constable Callum Forbes (Fife Division)

Ms Natasha Huk and Mr Robert Petrie (Edinburgh City)

Constables David Johnston and Craig Barr (Greater Glasgow Division)

Constables Lisa Parker and Greig Porteous (The Lothians and Scottish Borders Division)

Constables Allan Wardrop, Phoebe Pritchard, Michael Shields and David Murdoch (Ayrshire Division)

Ms Nicky Page (The Lothians and Scottish Borders)

Mr William Wilson (Tayside)

Liam Erskine (Ayrshire)

Detective Constable Glynn Powell (Edinburgh City)

Dr George Parsonage (Greater Glasgow)

Bravery and Excellence Awards celebrated at Tulliallan

The commitment, initiative and bravery of Police Scotland officers and staff, as well as partner organisations and members of the public, were recognised and celebrated yesterday at the Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan.

Held as a joint event for the first time, the Chief Constable’s Bravery and Excellence Awards was attended by senior officers, politicians, stakeholders and family members.

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone QPM presented 29 Bravery awards to 34 police officers, 24 members of the public – and two police dogs. Among those receiving Bravery awards were:

  • PC Paul O’Donnell, and Police Dog Remo were on duty in Ayrshire when they traced an individual who became very aggressive. He hit both PC O’Donnell and Remo in the face with a metal pole, before biting the dog’s ear. Despite their significant injuries, they were able to restrain their attacked until additional officers arrived and arrested him.
  • Elizabeth Hutchison, who was driving in Edinburgh when she saw a woman in a distressed condition, walking without shoes in torrential rain, who made her way to a bridge and threatened to jump.

  • Elizabeth (above) was able to help the woman down and alert police, before restraining her when she tried to run off. As a result of Ms Hutchison’s actions, a very vulnerable member of the public was able to receive the necessary treatment at hospital.
  • Member of police staff, Alan Rae, was delivering a driving course to police officers in Aberdeen when a van with no-one inside began to roll backwards down a hill towards university and mosque buildings. He was able to catch up to the moving vehicle, get inside and bring it to a stop, avoiding a potentially serious incident.

Mr Livingstone also presented Excellence awards in 11 categories, including Greatest Contribution to Policing Priorities and Policing Partner of the Year, as well as a number of individual awards.

Police Officer of the Year was named as Inspector Kieran Dougal from City of Edinburgh Division, who, on transferring into community policing, made an immediate impact by taking ownership of key problems in the area, including road safety, hate crime, theft and domestic abuse, and is considered a valued leader among his peers.

Policing Partner of the Year was presented to Sarah Finnegan from Barnardo’s for the RISE Project, a two-year pilot project in Dundee and Aberdeen designed to address the Scottish Government’s National Action Plan to prevent and tackle child sexual exploitation. She has been instrumental in transforming local services and designing a more trauma informed approach to children and young people at risk in Dundee.

Police Scotland’s Unsung Hero was named as Detective Constable Iain McKinlay from Greater Glasgow Division for his unstinting work relating to the investigation of vehicle crime. He has established critical partnerships within the UK and abroad to identify organised crime groups involved in car theft and provided advice and assistance to officers across Scotland.

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone QPM said: “Policing is a challenging and rewarding vocation, which unites us through a shared sense of public service, and I hear, every day, about the work of professional and compassionate people who are dedicated to improving the lives of their fellow citizens.

“I believe this to be the single most important thing we must all remember as police officers and staff: we are there to serve the public. We are the public and the public are the police.

“Therefore, it is absolutely right and proper for the dedication of our officers and staff to be publicly acknowledged, and at the same time commend members of the public for the selfless acts of bravery and courage which have made a significant contribution to others and their communities.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all our winners and nominees today and thank them all for their efforts.”

The event was sponsored by Police Mutual, an organisation which has supported the police family for more than 150 years, providing financial services and wellbeing support.

Police Mutual’s Chief Executive, John Perks, said: “It’s a huge privilege to work alongside the police service and we are immensely proud to sponsor this event. 

“These awards not only shine a light on projects across various areas, celebrating successes that have been achieved amidst a backdrop of increasing challenges for the police service, they are also here to recognise the bravery of officers, where ordinary days turned into extraordinary days.

“All the nominees and winners should be immensely proud of their achievements – they have shown themselves to be dedicated to keeping the public safe through outstanding work and extraordinary levels of professional commitment, in line with Police Scotland’s values.

“We are always humbled by your outstanding demonstrations of courage and I am delighted to also be able to recognise Excellence in Policing. They are not only a credit to their families, friends and communities, but also to Police Scotland and the wider Police Service.”

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “I congratulate all of those who have been honoured with this year’s Awards.  While the acts of bravery that are being recognised are exceptional, courage is often present in policing across the country. Police officers and staff are ordinary men and women who go above and beyond what is expected of them, often facing challenging and difficult situations.

“I have been struck by the incredible professionalism, dedication and expertise demonstrated in these awards. Whether call-handlers, cyber specialists, forensic experts, special constables, full-time officers, or members of the public, the people here today have played a role in keeping our communities safe. It is important to recognise this and the work that goes on across Scotland.”

David Crichton, Vice Chair of the Scottish Police Authority said: “We know our officers and staff are undertaking courageous, innovative and high quality work in the communities of Scotland.

“Today’s award ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate just a few of the selfless acts which help keep the citizens of Scotland safer. It is also an opportunity to recognise those members of the public who have helped us in that task.

“Congratulations to all today’s winners and to all those who were nominated for awards.”