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APPENDIX 2 AWARDS AND COMMENDATIONS

Members of the police service work daily for the greater good of their communities. The honours and awards conferred each year on police officers, support staff and special constabulary, once again recognise the widespread commitment to provide the public in Scotland with the very best police service possible.

In 2006-2007, honours conferred by Her Majesty were as follows:

BIRTHDAY HONOURS 2006

QPM - Ian James Latimer - Chief Constable, Northern Constabulary
QPM - Patrick Lindsay Tomkins - lately, Chief Constable, Lothian and Borders Police, now HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary

NEW YEAR HONOURS 2007

QPM - Malcolm Rae Dickson - Her Majesty's Assistant Inspector of Constabulary
QPM - David Mulhern - Chief Executive of the Scottish Police Services Authority
QPM - Patrick John Shearer - lately, Deputy Chief Constable, Grampian Police, now Chief Constable Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary

In the course of their duties police staff are often required to take actions which go beyond the routine or expected response. The following awards and commendations were made in the Scottish forces in 2006-2007:

OTHER AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Every year, members of the public assist the police in ways that go beyond what might reasonably be expected from good citizens. Chief constables formally recognise such actions locally, while each year the First Minister holds a Heroes Reception at Edinburgh Castle at which individuals are publicly thanked for their assistance. Seventy such heroes were honoured in 2006-2007.

For a full account of the Heroes Awards held on 2 October 2006 please view the following link: www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/10/02092004

The importance of these tributes to police and public alike should not be under-estimated. Civic recognition and peer congratulation are important stimulants to citizenship and public service. These efforts merit substantial publicity. However, statistics alone cannot convey the depth and scale of the commitment and bravery exhibited by so many individuals, as the following brief summary of a real incident that earned the officer involved a well deserved award show:

Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Parchment to Police Constable Ian Robertson

Chief Constable John Vine with Constable Robertson and Councillor Colin Young

During the early hours of Saturday 31 July 2005, Constable Ian Robertson was on duty in Perth city centre when he responded to a report that a suicidal woman was threatening to jump from the railway bridge into the River Tay.

While other officers checked the bridge, Constable Robertson and a colleague made their way on foot along Tay Street. They found a pair of shoes and items of clothing on a slipway. A frantic woman who was standing on the slipway told Constable Robertson that her friend was in the water and wanted to die. Constable Robertson saw another female in the river some ten metres from the water's edge. She shouted that she did not want to live. Constable Robertson tried to reason with her but she was carried by the current under the arch of the railway bridge.

In the absence of any lifebelts, Constable Robertson discarded items of his uniform and entered the water. He could not see the woman in the darkness but heard her screams and then saw her being carried away from the riverbank.

Constable Robertson swam about twenty metres to reach the woman who was screaming that she was out of her depth and would drown. He then held her head above the water and pulled her back to the slipway.

Constable Robertson acted without fear for his own safety in order to save the woman's life. In recognition of his brave and selfless actions, he has been awarded a Testimonial on Parchment by the Committee of the Royal Humane Society.

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