Highland Council congratulates Divisional Commander on his retirement

25th March 2016

The Highland Council has congratulated Divisional Commander of the Highlands and Islands, Julian Innes on his retiral and thanked him for his service at his last Committee meeting on 23 March 2016.

Chair of the Communities and Partnerships Committee, Cllr Hamish Fraser said: Chief Superintendent Innes has made a huge contribution to the safety of our communities. He has led the police in the north over a period of significant organisational change and we thank him for all his efforts.

He has many achievements to be proud of, including our joint arrangements to protect children and vulnerable adults, in taking the initiative to deal with domestic violence, in leading the drug and alcohol partnership, setting up the joint response teams to reduce anti-social behaviour and in our emergency planning duties.

Although I know he won't take any credit for it, we know that his leadership of the police in the north has made the Highlands a safer place. We heard at our last Committee meeting that our Citizens Panel survey last year showed that 96.8% of Highland residents rate the area within 15 minutes' walk of their home as either "very" or "fairly safe". This is a great result!”

Cllr Fraser went on to say: Julian is always focused on doing the right thing for our communities and listening to feedback. He is an outstanding public servant, trusted by elected members and genuinely welcoming the scrutiny and challenge we give him in this Committee. We wish him all the best for his future and he leaves in May with our sincere gratitude.