Cops get it write: Chief Constable allays crime writers’ fears about unified police force

Famed crime writer Ian Rankin has revealed that the head of Police Scotland invited Scotland’s top crime writers to dinner in order to “reassure” them that changes to the force would not affect their novels.

Chief Constable Philip Gormley heard that the creation of Police Scotland in 2013 had created a “nightmare” for the writers – demoting the likes of Mr Rankin’s John Rebus to lesser roles in favour of specialist detectives from “major investigation teams”.

The author told an audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival that Mr Gormley had hosted a dinner for writers to allay their fears about changes to the force.

He said: “I shouldn’t be telling you this, the Chief Constable did have quite a lot of crime writers in for a meeting.

“We said, ‘Look this is a nightmare,’ and he said, ‘Well, look, this has all been done for the right reasons and I’m sure you can find a way round it’.

“So that’s been a huge change, and trying to explain that to readers all over the world, for most of whom it is an inconvenience, trying to explain that has happened, without boring them with the detail of that, is quite tough.”

He added: “The way policing is structured has changed so much in Scotland in the past few years.

“We have this thing for Police Scotland, and for crime writers, any crime writer who comes on this stage will tell you how horrified we were when the change took place.

“Now if there is a murder in Edinburgh, or Aberdeen, or Glasgow a crack team is parachuted in from police HQ.

“In Edinburgh, in Leith police station, there is one room which is locked and it is only unlocked when this team comes to town. And their job is to investigate the murder or a serious crime, with the local CID reduced to a secondary role.

“So people like Siobhan Clarke, Malcolm Fox, Rebus in the past, would not be investigating murders, which is an extraordinary situation.”

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “The Chief Constable met a number of crime writers during a private social event he was invited to attend earlier in the summer.”

He added that major investigation teams work with local policing divisions: “Major investigation teams (MITs) are located throughout the country, including permanently at Leith.

“They lead on the investigation of murders and other major crimes and increase the availability of dedicated, specialist officers to communities throughout Scotland.

“They work in support of and alongside local policing divisions including CID and other specialisms on a range investigations.”