Forth Valley role a privilege says commander

Chief Superintendent Barry Blair has now officially taken over as Forth Valley Divisional Commander.

He replaces CS Alan Gibson, who has become the Head of Training Operations at the Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan.

CS Blair has rejoined the division, having most recently worked as the Head of Criminal Justice Transformation.

During this time, he led on Police Scotland’s criminal justice response to the Covid pandemic. Having initially joined Central Scotland Police in 1999, CS Blair has held a number of roles within local policing, CID and Public Protection.

He worked across the Forth Valley area, including roles as a Community Inspector, Divisional Response Inspector and, latterly as DCI Public Protection based out of the Forth Valley Hub, before moving on to roles outside the division, including Local Area Commander at West Lothian and as Superintendent in Criminal Justice Services.

Following his first week in post, CS Blair said: “It is a great privilege to have taken over as the Divisional Commander for Forth Valley. This is an area I know extremely well, having worked here previously, but also as a local resident of Falkirk.

“I want to thank my predecessor, Chief Supt Gibson, for his outstanding leadership and service to our communities over the past three years. I look forward to continuing on this work and building on the excellent partnership working evident across the division whilst ensuring we remain responsive, accessible and focused on the priorities of people and communities across Forth Valley.

“My thanks also go out to the officers and support staff who play a vital role each day in keeping the public who live, work and visit the division safe. I look forward to working with you all in due course.”