Recipients of blue light service medals in Scotland
King’s Police Medal
Joanna Farrell Chief Constable, Police Scotland
Stephen Dolan, Chief Superintendent, Police Scotland
Andrew Freeburn, Assistant Chief Constable, Police Scotland
King’s Fire Service Medal
Alexander Muir, Firefighter, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Stuart Stevens, Chief Officer, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
King’s Ambulance Service Medal
David Lee Bywater, Lead Consultant Paramedic, Scottish Ambulance Service
KING’S POLICE MEDAL
Joanna Farrell, Chief Constable, Police Scotland
Chief Constable Joanna Farrell has an exemplary police career spanning more than 33 years across three Forces. For the past 6 years, she served as Chief Constable in Durham Constabulary and continues to serve as Chief Constable in Police Scotland, demonstrating exceptional leadership and strategic vision, together with personal resilience and commitment to public service. Recognised as a progressive and personable police leader, she places a clear focus on people, prevention and innovation, delivering a more efficient, effective and community centred policing for the public.
Chief Constable Farrell’s strategic leadership of Police Scotland has been a trailblazer for engaged well-informed decision making ensuring stronger outcomes for communities. She has carried this approach throughout her career, combining vision, collaboration and a clear focus on public benefit.
As the first female Chief Constable of Police Scotland, she is a role model to others both in what can be achieved but importantly how it can be achieved, through hard work and humility and without compromise on values and people focus, including family. Her approach to empowering and enabling staff goes beyond creating an environment for them to thrive, it is evident daily through her own personal demonstration of visible effective leadership in action.
Stephen Dolan, Chief Superintendent, Police Scotland
Chief Superintendent Stevie Dolan has demonstrated exceptional dedication throughout his 32 years of distinguished service with Police Scotland and formerly Lothian and Borders Police. His career exemplifies unwavering commitment to protecting communities, building vital partnerships, and inspiring colleagues through compassionate leadership.
Beginning in West Edinburgh in 1992, Chief Superintendent Dolan’s early career showcased his tenacity in community policing and crime disruption. A pivotal role investigating sudden deaths and missing persons revealed his profound empathy, and helped shape his understanding of compassionate leadership. This experience propelled him into training roles where he mentored over 500 probationary officers.
In corporate leadership, Chief Superintendent Dolan delivered transformational change. He led the £21 million Mobile Working Project, rolling out devices to 11,000 frontline officers, saving 440,000 hours and enhancing officer safety and wellbeing—deemed “exemplary” by Scottish Government reviews.
Currently commanding Lanarkshire Division’s 1,350 officers serving 670,000 residents, Chief Superintendent Dolan has transformed partnership working. Council and NHS executives praise his compassionate leadership, particularly his advocacy for care-experienced young people and vulnerable communities.
His career embodies dedication, compassion, and distinguished public service worthy of the highest recognition.
Andrew Freeburn, Assistant Chief Constable, Police Scotland
Andrew Freeburn MBE served 32 years in policing across Northern Ireland and Scotland, rising from joining the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1992 to Assistant Chief Constable within Police Service of Scotland.
As Assistant Chief Constable, leading Organised Crime, Counter Terrorism, Cyber and Intelligence with Police Scotland he worked tirelessly to build partnerships at the Scottish Crime Campus, driving collaboration across over 30 law enforcement agencies through the Multi-Agency Tasking and Delivery Board.
As Executive lead for Counter Terrorism, he strengthened key partnerships and embedded a ‘one team’ approach between Police Scotland and CT partners, directly increasing Scotland’s ability to mitigate terrorist threats.
Assistant Chief Constable Freeburn also served as Senior Responsible Officer for the ‘Policing in a Digital World Programme’, developing Police Scotland’s operational Cyber Strategy.
Beyond operational duties, Assistant Chief Constable Freeburn’s commitment to ethics and values shaped policing across the United Kingdom. He contributed to Police Scotland’s ethics framework and devoted 10 years lecturing Law at Ulster University Belfast. His community service included serving as Non-Executive Director for the Simon Community homeless charity (2017-2022) and as Trustee for the Police Treatment Centre and Police Children’s charity.
KING’S FIRE SERVICE MEDAL
Alexander Muir, Firefighter, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Alex Muir’s remarkable 46-year firefighting career demonstrates exceptional dedication to serving Glasgow’s communities. Joining the service in 1979, he served at Springburn Fire Station until 1986 before transferring to Cowcaddens Fire Station, where he remains today. Simultaneously, since 1981, he has been a pivotal FBU Scotland union official, now serving as West Area Secretary.
Throughout his career, Alex Muir has been an unwavering advocate for firefighter safety and employee rights, successfully campaigning for improvements that have enhanced outcomes for Scotland’s communities. His operational excellence is evidenced by his response to major incidents including the 1980 Fruit Market fire, 1987 Treron’s Department Store fire, 1989 Belgrove train crash, 1999 Melrose Street fire, 2004 Clarendon Bar fire, and 2014 School of Art fire.
Alex Muir’s unique ability to understand issues from both union and fire service leadership perspectives has helped shape Scotland’s fire service direction. His decades-long involvement in the trade union movement demonstrates sustained commitment to firefighter wellbeing. Through nearly five decades of service, his legacy encompasses not only the fires fought and lives protected, but also the countless firefighters he has supported through his union work.
Stuart Stevens, Chief Officer, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Chief Officer Stuart Stevens has demonstrated outstanding leadership throughout his career with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), making significant contributions to community safety, operational excellence, and workforce development.
Chief Officer Stevens was instrumental in establishing the SFRS Prevention agenda during the formation of Scotland’s single national fire service, developing a unified approach to community safety through partnership working.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Officer Stevens provided decisive leadership that maintained operational continuity whilst prioritising staff safety. His calm approach ensured vital services continued during the national crisis, reinforcing public trust in the SFRS. He led the SFRS response to Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations, working with the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Working Group to implement necessary reforms and enhance fire safety standards.
A passionate advocate for firefighter safety, Chief Officer Stevens has driven s improvements which have created safer working environments and more effective emergency response capabilities.
Appointed Chief Officer in November 2024, his tenure exemplifies integrity, innovation, and unwavering dedication to public service.
KING’S AMBULANCE SERVICE MEDAL
David Lee Bywater, Lead Consultant Paramedic, Scottish Ambulance Service
David Lee Bywater has been a dedicated member of the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) since 1996, qualifying as a a in 2001. In 2022, he was appointed to the substantive role of Lead Consultant Paramedic and acted as the interim director of Care Quality on the board from April 2024 to May 2025, where he strengthened the link between the front line and decision making.
He demonstrated leadership in supporting colleagues during the challenging winter of 2024. Bywater possesses a deep understanding of the complexities of pre-hospital emergency care. He has collaborated with the British Heart Foundation to develop a UK-wide solution for public access defibrillator use and has worked with Police Scotland to reform the procedure for dealing with pre-hospital child deaths.
He played a key role in delivering SASs commitment to Scotland’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest strategy and leads on paediatric care in SAS. He is a reservist with Scotland’s charity Air Ambulance and teaches and directs courses in pre-hospital emergency care, paediatric life support and major incident management and continues to volunteer as a responder in rural communities.
