The north-east’s new top cop has called for more women to join the police in an exclusive interview as she steps into her new role as the region’s divisional commander.
Chief Superintendent Kate Stephen spoke exclusively to the Press and Journal in her first media interview since taking on the top job.
Ch Supt Stephen used the opportunity to highlight progress made in terms of gender equality in the police, and urge more females to get involved.
She said: “Gone are the days when women joined the police and they were the family and children’s unit.”
She added: “All officers are afforded the same level of training, the same amount of training, the same equipment, so they are essentially equal.”
Her comments came ahead of International Women’s Day on Tuesday, which celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
A woman leader
It also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
The Ch Supt is the first female to reach Police Scotland’s role of divisional commander for the north-east.
Speaking about the achievement, she said: “Being a woman leader in what is traditionally a male-dominated profession is something to be rightly proud of.”
Scotland’s national police force is currently recruiting to fill police officer vacancies.
“Over the last 20/21 years that I’ve been in the service, we have had a real focus on trying to improve and increase our numbers of female officers,” the senior officer said.
“There’s still a way to go,” she added, and explained: “It’s not something we can ever stop trying to push and achieve in terms of that equality across the service”.
Ch Supt Stephen described the national police service and its north-east division’s gender balance as being “in a really strong place”.
She commented: “It’s important to be equally representative of the societies that we’re serving, so not just gender but across ethnic minorities.”
Policing priorities
During the exclusive interview, the Ch Supt set out cybercrime and anti-social behaviour as key areas of her focus after taking over from Chief Superintendent George Macdonald.
She also explained officers are only human and that policing can take its toll on people.
She said: “We deal with horrendous incidents. We deal with horrific crime and seeing the devastation that things like those leave in their wake.
“We’re not robots. We’re all mums, dads, sisters, uncles, brothers, daughters.”
Raising a family in the north-east
Although Ch Supt Stephen began her career in the central belt working across Glasgow, she said: “I’m not a stranger to this area.”
The north-east police chief raised her family in the region over the last 15 years.
She worked across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and in Moray and held senior ranks for several years before her latest promotion.
