I might have ended up chief inspector but if I was a good community officer then I had already reached the top. That’s the pinnacle. That’s the top job in the police force
Former top policeman looks back on a 30-year
During 30 years in the police, Ian Mcneish has done it all – from knocking out a knife-wielding assailant with a pool cue to being chased by a bull.
Now, 14 years after leaving the force, Ian, 71, has remembered his life in uniform in his memoirs, The Fearn Bobby.
Packed with anecdotes, it traces his policing career across urban and rural beats and examines Scottish policing then and now.
But the former Chief Inspector from Bonnybridge, who likens much of his career to that of TV’S Highand policeman Hamish Macbeth, says Police Scotland has become too centralised and should place more emphasis on community policing.
“I think people’s attitude towards the police is changing, they are less trusting,” said Ian.
“Apparently more police officers have been recruited but where are they? A lot are behind desks in central units and departments.
“Policing today has become centralised and that’s not helping communities.
“You can’t have someone in Central Scotland decide a standard operating procedure for a local officer to handle a situation in a wee town up north.”
For Ian, rural policing required a different approach. He knew the community he was policing and when to employ discretion and leniency.
Ian joined the force in 1974 when he was 27. He trained in Dingwall and within seven months was chosen to singlehandedly police the rural beat of Fearn, covering a Highland population of 6000.
“My first boss said that a police officer working in a community has a special role. You have a responsibility to everyone on your beat, so get to know them and be visible,” said Ian.
“It’s the pinnacle of policing, to be able to identify yourself in a community as ‘their’ police officer, to be liked and trusted.
“Being on my own, I was like Hamish Macbeth.
“I loved being able to just get on with my job without central interference.
“One minute you might be helping the local doctor lift a patient from the floor back into bed, helping a farmer with his firearm certificate or being the one to impart tragic news to a family.”
His memoir also reveals a tougher side to the job, including the aftermath of Dunblane, policing miners’ strikes in the 80s, facing knife attacks and delivering bad news to families.
“Police training equips you to walk towards danger, tragedy, mayhem, chaos and it teaches you to stay calm, focussed and take control,” reflected Ian.
“Fearn was where I was taught the benchmark for policing in communities and what was meant by the moral compass of policing.”
Ian worked across East Scotland and rose to Chief Inspector in charge of community safety, based in Stirling.
He left the force in 2004 and looks back on his police career with positivity and pride.
But he doesn’t agree with Police Scotland’s current direction.
Ian added: “I believe we are losing touch with communities.
“The only way to change that is to put more police offers into communities and actually have them based there, not centralised to drive out to the somewhere for a couple of hours during the day.
“Is it financially possible? I don’t know but I think it’s necessary.”
- Ian Mcneish