Checkpoint | Spring 2017

10 Minutes With…

On 6th January 2017, Sam Donaldson spent an hour talking with the Chief Constable George Hamilton about his work and his faith. Chief Constable George Hamilton

Q. Good afternoon Chief, thanks very much for your time. You’ve been a police officer for 30 years. What motivated you to join? And what have been the highlights of your career? I was brought up with a real respect for the police, and for law and order. My parents taught us this from an early age. I also had an older brother in the police. Influences at home were very important, even though joining at the time was a high risk. I really wanted to look after people and to keep people safe, which is why when I became Chief Constable it was easy to communicate this message as my purpose for the organisation that I had been given the privilege and responsibility to lead. I genuinely wanted to protect people and that’s what makes me tick. There have been many highlights in my career; and many difficult times when I have lost colleagues. Some of the highlights have

been very simple, where I’ve been able to make a real difference in people’s lives. I remember in particular dealing with a situation where a young person had committed suicide. I still recall receiving a letter in which the family thanked me for my input and in particular for demonstrating empathy in their sad and tragic circumstances. I remember as well dealing with really challenging investigations as a Detective Chief Inspector and Detective Superintendent. In one case I recall a local District Commander advising me that the area had been left in a better place than we found it as a result of how we conducted our investigations. That was encouraging. I never thought I would be Chief Constable so it was a surprise and that appointment is an obvious highlight and a real honour to become the Chief Constable. Q. You’ve been Chief Constable now for nearly three years. What’s a typical day like for you? What’s the most difficult aspect of your role? What’s your main objective as Chief Constable? The great thing about this job is that there’s no such thing as a typical day. The only constant thing is that difficult and unpredictable challenges arise every day! Most days I arrive around 7.30 and often leave about 12 hours later. 9 to 5 is usually back to back meetings so the couple of hours before and after the meetings are necessary for admin and for thinking time. As an organisation, we are really good at operational matters, the situations involving disorder and high risk. My role however is to remain as a visionary

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