Stellar police career lights path to success for female recruits
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IF Police Scotland were searching for inspiration in their campaign to attract more women to consider a career with the Service, then Ch Supt Louise Blakelock’s achievements must be pretty high up the list.
Taking over the Inspector’s role at Buckie and Keith police stations in 2012, she has since risen to take on the role of Head of Road Policing for Scotland.
Her role is a wide-ranging one, as she explained.
“Although I’m based in Inverurie, I cover Road Policing throughout Scotland so pre-pandemic I was on the road a lot. I have a very good team across the country supporting me.
“My main focus as Head of Road Policing is keeping people safe on Scotland’s roads, to detect and deter offences being committed on roads and working with our partners to educate and influence road user behaviour. Sadly a key part of our work is the investigation of serious and fatal road collisions.
“I’ve been in the role for two years now and I get huge fulfilment from my job. I’m lucky to be doing a job I enjoy so much and I am very fortunate to be working with so many committed officers.
“The biggest challenge we face as roads policing officers is that there are still a number of drivers who disregard the road traffic regulations and put themselves and others at risk through their actions, too often with devastating consequences.
“Every death on our roads is a tragedy and avoidable”
The opportunity to lead the nation’s roads policing team was not one Ch Supt Blakelock was going to pass up.
“I’ve always been passionate about road safety and reducing casualties,” she continued.
“I’ve been involved with this for many years joining in the Traffic Department in Grampian Police as a constable so when the opportunity arose I decided to go for it, it was something which really interested me.”
She hopes her career to date will help persuade women pondering applying to Police Scotland that the sky’s the limit for them in the Service, which at one time was considered a largely male preserve. It has certainly come a long way since she first joined as a police cadet back in 1991 straight from school, becoming a constable two years later.
“As a female officer I’ve been presented with opportunities throughout my career.
“These opportunities – and more – are available to anyone willing to take advantage of them.”
Although Ch Supt Blakelock was only stationed in Buckie and Keith for a year or so, she nevertheless packed quite a lot in during her tenure and retains fond memories from her time in charge.
She said: “I wasn’t at Buckie and Keith that long, unfortunately, but it was a very busy time.
“In 2013 we moved to a new office which was more suitable for our needs and later that year, right at the end of my time there, Police Scotland came into being.
“I’ve fond memories of working in Buckie and Keith. There were strong local communities and there was a lot of local support for what the police and our partners were trying to achieve.
There is also a family link to the local area, her father serving as the Inspector at Banff police station before retiring with the rank of Chief Inspector at Stonehaven in 1995.
To find out more about a career with Police Scotland, visit their website at https://www.scotland.police.uk which includes information on the role of Special Constables.
February 2 will see an online session held via Teams aimed specifically at recruting female officers. It is due to run from 6.30pm to 8pm. Visit https://www.scotland.police.uk for more information. To attend, reserve a place by emailing RecruitmentPositiveActionTeam@scotland.pnn.police.uk
At present some 32 per cent of Scotland's police officers are female.
