New Forth Valley police commander vows to keep communities safe

Speaking to The Falkirk Herald shortly after his appointment, Chief Superintendent Barry Blair said: “My aim is to build on the excellent partnership work already in place, ensuring the police service remains responsive, accessible and connected to the communities of Forth Valley.

"Areas of concern are anti-social behaviour in our communities, drug dealing and acquisitive crime, we want to make sure people are safe in their homes. It is also really important that we care for the most vulnerable in our communities.

“And as the profile of criminality changes, it is important that we protect people online.”

He urged people to check out and use the Facebook and Twitter pages for Forth Valley Police, as well as using them to take the survey that helps form the role of policing in local communities.

He replaces Chief Superintendent Alan Gibson as Forth Valley Divisional Commander. Chief Supt Gibson has become the head of training operations at the Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan.

Chief Supt Blair has returned to the division, having most recently worked as the head of criminal justice transformation during which he led on Police Scotland’s criminal justice response to the Covid pandemic.

Having initially joined Central Scotland Police in 1999, he 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.

The chief superintendent added: “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.”

In the Falkirk area he is supported by Chief Inspector Liam Harman, who is the local area commander in charge of the response officers, community officers, and officers from the criminal investigation department, and who took over that role last May.

Again he is no stranger to the area having first walked the beat in Grangemouth in 1997.

The chief inspector said: “We have had some very positive outcomes since I arrived, particularly around Falkirk town centre. Towards the end of the year we saw a spike in anti-social behaviour, particularly in the Newmarket Street area. However, ensuring we had more officers visible and working with the council, First Bus and taxi marshalls we have had good results and positive feedbank. That work will continue in Falkirk and our other town centres across the district.”