Sir Iain Thomas Livingstone, (born 6 October 1966) is a Scottish police officer who is currently Chief Constable of Police Scotland. He was previously Deputy Chief Constable Designate of the force. He was named as the next Chief Constable on 15 August 2018 and took up office formally on 27 August 2018.

Early life

Livingstone graduated from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

in 1988 with a first class

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree. During his time as a student at Aberdeen he played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Raith Rovers and Montrose. He also attended the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

before beginning a career as a solicitor.

Police career

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone (cropped)

Livingstone joined Lothian and Borders Police in 1992, rising swiftly through the ranks and eventually becoming head of that force's CID branch and Assistant Chief Constable for Crime. He graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...

at the City University of New York, where he studied from 1998 as a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

; he also served secondments as a special investigator with the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, was part of

Lord Bonomy Iain Bonomy, Lord Bonomy, (born 15 January 1946) is a former Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the College of Justice, Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session fr ...

's review of corroboration for

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) is a public body of the Scottish Government and reports to the Scottish Parliament. It has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the effectiveness and efficiency of the po ...

, and has sat on the

Scottish Sentencing Council The Scottish Sentencing Council is an advisory non-departmental public body in Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great ...

. When Lothian & Borders was amalgamated into the new Police Scotland force in 2013, Livingstone was named Deputy Chief Constable for Crime and operations. After being overlooked for the Chief Constable job when Phil Gormley was appointed as the successor to

Stephen House Sir Stephen House (born 1957) is a British police officer who served as Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2022. After beginning his career at Sussex Police in 1981, House held positions in Northamptonshire Police and West Yorksh ...

in late 2015, he initially remained part of the force executive but in summer 2017 announced his intention to retire in the coming months. He then accepted a request to reconsider his decision after several allegations of misconduct were made against Chief Constable Gormley and the latter was placed on special leave; by September 2017 Livingstone was leading the force on an interim basis. When Gormley resigned in February 2018 to contest the allegations, Livingstone became the frontrunner to succeed him formally. The role as Chief Constable from 27 August 2018 carries a four-year term and an annual salary of £216,000.

Controversies

He was suspended and demoted in 2003 after an allegation of sexual misconduct after an event at Tulliallan Policing College three years earlier, but was cleared following an internal misconduct hearing and later reinstated to his previous role as Superintendent (the youngest officer of that rank in Scotland at the time) following an appeal. Livingston admitting he had acted inappropriately by falling asleep in the woman's room, although he was cleared of any sexual misconduct. He told the BBC earlier that he had too much to drink at a social event at the college, and had fallen asleep "in the wrong place", adding: "That was wrong, I shouldn't have done that". Former assistant chief constable Angela Wilson commenting on Livingstone's earlier escape from sexual assault allegations said 'Livingstone not fit to lead force'. Constable Calum Steele Scotland's police union boss was found guilty of posting "inappropriate and offensive" online comments about Wilson following her comments on Livingstone.

Honours

Living was awarded the

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...

in 2015 for distinguished service. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as par ...

for services to policing and the public.

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingstone, Iain British Chief Constables Scottish recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Living people 1966 births category:Lothian and Borders Police officers category:Police Scotland officers People from Dunfermline Footballers from Fife Scottish footballers Scottish Football League players Raith Rovers F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Scottish lawyers Scottish police officers Association football wingers Knights Bachelor