Responsible for drop in county's vandalism

A FORMER Caithness police officer who played an important part in tackling vandalism in the county
has been promoted.
Angus MacInnes, has been appointed the new Area Commander for Shetland Area Command, with the rank of Chief Inspector. He replaces outgoing Chief Inspector David Bushell, who has moved to take over as Area Commander for Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh.
Mr MacInnes took up post this week and is in the process of familiarising himself with his new role which he says he is very much looking forward to.
He said: "Having previously worked in Shetland I am delighted to have the opportunity to return to the area. Being part of a remote community presents it's own, very unique challenges and when these are combined with the changes currently taking place in Scottish policing we are witnessing some very interesting times.”
"The police in Shetland, and for that matter throughout Scotland, have an important role in ensuring our communities remain safe and secure. As the Area Commander for Shetland I am committed to ensuring that we fully contribute in the professional manner expected of us."Angus was born in Inverness but grew up in Canada, before returning to Scotland to study.
Mr MacInnes joined Northern Constabulary in 1995 and was posted to Inverness before transferring to Cannich in 1999. He served there until being promoted to Sergeant in 2003. Upon promotion he returned to Inverness, working in a variety of roles, before moving to the Staff Office, Executive Unit, Headquarters in early 2005.
In late 2007 he transferred to Alness where he was a uniformed shift sergeant until early 2009 when he was promoted to inspector.
Following promotion he worked in Shetland for five months to provide short term Inspector cover, before moving to Caithness as the area inspector.
During his time in Caithness, Mr MacInnes developed a vandalism initiative which saw a marked reduction in the number of these crimes and a detection rate of over 56%.
These excellent results were achieved through directed police work as well as the active involvement of the local communities.
During his service he has gained experience as a public order tactical advisor working at the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2007. He is also a trained public order commander and worked as a member of a mountain rescue team while serving in a single officer station. He has also served as a police media liaison officer and is a trained mediator.