Chief Constable Justine Curran
Tayside Police have installed Justine Curran as their new Chief Constable - making her the first woman to take charge of the force.
Ms Curran, 42, joined Tayside Police as Deputy Chief Constable in 2008, and has been Acting Chief Constable of the force sinec Kevin Mathieson retired in August 2009.
Born in Sheffield, she grew up in Lancashire before moving to Hull where she studied Classical Studies.
She joined Greater Manchester Police in 1989, where her first post was as a Constable in Wigan. In 1991 she was promoted to Sergeant, and then to Inspector in 1995.
In 1998 she was promoted once again to Chief Inspector with responsibility for policing Manchester City Centre.
After a brief move to become a Superintendent at Merseyside Police, Justine returned to Greater Manchester Police in 2003 where she became Chief Superintendent and Divisional Commander for North Manchester Division.
She is an expert in crowd control, anti-terrorism and community policing, and was in charge of operations when Rangers fans rioted in Manchester city centre following their side's Uefa Cup Final defeat in 2008.
Since joining Tayside Police, Ms Curran has helped set up a partnership development with Abertay University in Dundee to bring innovative approaches and methods into Tayside Police.
One project is currenetly looking at developing computer programmes that can search files and identify violent or abusive images which would automate and streamline what are currently time consuming evidence gathering processes.
Councillor Ian Mackintosh, Convener of Tayside Joint Police Board, who made the appointment, said: "Justine comes to the post of Chief Constable with great experience and knowledge gained from her time with Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and serving as Deputy Chief Constable at Tayside Police.
"Since her arrival in Tayside, she has become an established member of the Force Executive. She is an officer of outstanding ability who is passionate about the importance of engaging with the communities of Tayside and the Board and I look forward to working with her.
"I am certain that in the role of Chief Constable she will prove to be a great asset to policing in Tayside."
