IN THIS week's article, I would like to introduce four new community officers to you.
All of them have come into post over the last month or two and are already working hard in the communities they represent.
All the officers have good experience and knowledge of policing within East Lothian, having either been on response or community teams prior to their arrival into post.
PC Lee Wilson was the licensing officer for East Lothian and has transferred into the Musselburgh area, where he will be building on the strong relationships he has already established with local partners. Lee lives with his family in Midlothian and previously worked at Musselburgh in response policing, so he will be returning to his old patch, so to speak.
PC Diane Bath has been working at Haddington for a number of years and is replacing Natalie Dalziel in the North Berwick area. Diane is an experienced family liaison officer and lives locally with her husband Allan, who is also a police officer based at Haddington, so if Di can’t fix things, she can always call him in for backup; however, I’m fairly certain this will not be necessary! In her spare time, Di is a keen runner, taking part in Parkrun every weekend, and enjoys sea swimming locally.
PC Frances Hamilton replaces Dermott Maughan as the new community officer for Preston Seton Gosford. Dermott has not gone far, as he is now the school link officer for the area, and I know Frances has already picked up where Dermott left off with building on many of the strong connections we have in the community. Frances lives locally and is another policing double act, with partner Jordan working in the control room at Bilston. Frances loves spending time with her family when not at work and recently told me: “We absolutely adore East Lothian and regularly enjoy the many costal walks with our dog. On returning from maternity leave, I was delighted about my move to the community officer role for the PSG ward. The communities have been so welcoming, easing the transition to a full-time working mum.”
Last but by no means least of this quartet is PC Neil Whittingham, who takes over the Fa’side area. Neil joined the East Lothian policing team earlier in the year from the Borders and, prior to that, also spent time working in Midlothian and Edinburgh. Neil lives with his partner and family in Dunbar. On his days off, Neil can usually be found losing golf balls on the golf course or making the most of time with his family.
From my perspective, it is reassuring and encouraging to see so many of our new community cops having prior knowledge of the county through both working and being resident in the county and, like many of you, I’m looking forward to seeing the difference they can make for their communities.
Please get in touch with any of the officers if you need to, with further details on how to do this available at scotland.police.uk/your-community/the-lothians-and-scottish-borders/east-lothian
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