David James Reid Strang is a former senior police officer and public servant from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He has worked in a number of senior roles in the

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

sector, most notably as Chief Constable of

Lothian and Borders Police Lothian and Borders Police was the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian between 1975 and 2013. The force's headquarters were in Fettes ...

and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland.

Early life and education

Strang was born in Glasgow and studied at

Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational independent day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully independent ...

and

Loretto School Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. History The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...

.
Keele University, biography for David Strang, accessed 16/12/2011 Strang then went on to study engineering science at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, graduating with a BSc, before studying for an MSc in organisational behaviour at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Police career

Strang began his police career with the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

in 1980.
Lothian and Borders, biography for David Strang, accessed 16/12/2011 He was posted to a number of different divisions as well as time with

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

Territorial Support Group The Territorial Support Group (TSG) is a Met Operations unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which specialises in public order policing, amongst other specialist areas. In 2012 it consisted of 793 officers and 29 support staff. Th ...

and a secondment to the

Police Staff College, Bramshill The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, (near Hook) Hampshire, England, was until 2015 the principal police staff training establishment in England and Wales. History The need for a training college for the police was ...

. After rising to divisional commander of Wembley Division, he left the force in 1998 and was appointed assistant chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police. In August 2001 Strang was appointed chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway Police. He led a number of initiatives, focusing on alcohol and drug action as well as youth justice and was president of the

Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) was the professional voice of police leadership ( Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables and Assistant Chief Constables) in Scotland, including the Assistant Chief Constable in the Br ...

during the 2004/05 year.
ACPOS website, Board of Directors, accessed 16/12/2011 On 29 March 2007 he was appointed chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police and served in that role until the force was amalgamated into

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

Work with Prisons

Strang was a member of the

Scottish Prisons Commission The Scottish Prisons Commission was a commission established by the Scottish Government in 2007 to "analyse the impact for courts, prisons and community justice services of early release provisions contained in the Custodial Sentences and Weapo ...

which published a report entitled ''Scotland's Choice'' in 2008. In 2013 he was appointed as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland in succession to Hugh Munro, a post which he held until 2018. He was subsequently appointed as chair of the Independent Inquiry into Mental Health Services in

Tayside Tayside ( gd, Taobh Tatha) was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named for the River Tay. It was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, following recom ...

.
The Independent Inquiry into Mental Health Services in Tayside website, About Us, accessed 18/06/19

Drug Deaths Taskforce

Strang was appointed Chair of the Scottish Government's Drugs Death Taskforce in January 2022, following the resignation of Professor Catriona Matheson in December 2021.

Honours and Awards

* He received the

Honorary Degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Doctor of the University An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

(D.Univ) from the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

on 23 November 2018.
University of Stirling website, Former prisons chief inspector and leading environmentalist to receive honour at Stirling graduation, accessed 18/06/2019

Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

References

External links

Lothian and Borders Police - David Strang QPM BSc MSc
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strang, David British Chief Constables Living people People educated at the Glasgow Academy People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh British prison inspectors Scottish recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Year of birth missing (living people) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Scottish police officers category:Officers in Scottish police forces category:Metropolitan Police officers