Sir Iain Thomas Livingstone, (born 6 October 1966) is a Scottish solicitor and retired police officer who served as Chief Constable of Police Scotland. He is currently leadin
Kenova
a series of historical investigations and reviews in relation to murders and other criminal activity which took place during

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

in Northern Ireland. He took over as Officer in Overall Command of Kenova in 2023 after his predecessor, Jon Boutcher QPM, took on the Chief Constable role of the

PSNI The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it w ...

. Prior to becoming Chief Constable of

Police Scotland Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...

, Sir Iain had served as Deputy Chief Constable Designate. He was named as the next Chief Constable on 15 August 2018 and took up office formally on 27 August 2018. He retired from

in August 2023.

Early life

Livingstone graduated from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

in 1988 with a first class

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree. During his time as a student at Aberdeen he played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

and Montrose. He also attended the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

before beginning a career as a solicitor.

Police career

Livingstone joined

Lothian and Borders Police Lothian and Borders Police was the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian between 1975 and 2013. The force's headquarters were in Fett ...

in 1992, rising swiftly through the ranks and eventually becoming head of that force's CID branch and Assistant Chief Constable for Crime. He graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts col ...

at the City University of New York, where he studied from 1998 as a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

; he also served secondments as a special investigator with the

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) is a non-departmental public body intended to provide an independent, impartial police complaints system for the people and police under the Police (Northern Ireland) Acts of 1998 ...

, and was part of Lord Bonomy's review of corroboration. He has sat on the

Scottish Sentencing Council The Scottish Sentencing Council () is an Public bodies of the Scottish Government, advisory non-departmental public body in Scotland that produces sentencing guidelines for use in the High Court of Justiciary, sheriff courts and justice of th ...

. He advises on the Operation Kenova investigation into matters during

in Northern Ireland. Livingstone served in detective and uniform roles in Edinburgh and

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

, leading a number of major investigations and operations. As Detective Superintendent, he played a key role in the security operation around the

31st G8 summit The 31st G8 summit was held on 6–8 July 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland and hosted by Prime Minister Tony Blair. The locations of previous G8 summits to have been hosted by the UK include: London (1977, 1984, 1991); an ...

in 2005 and headed the murder investigation into the double shooting at the Marmion Bar in Edinburgh. After completing the Strategic Command Course, he was appointed Assistant Chief Constable for Lothian and Borders Police in April 2009, with responsibility for Crime and Operations. As ACC, he was Gold commander for many significant events including the visit to Edinburgh of Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. When Lothian & Borders was amalgamated into the new

force in 2013, Livingstone was named Deputy Chief Constable for Crime and operations. After being overlooked for the Chief Constable job when

Phil Gormley Philip Michael Christopher Gormley, (born 8 March 1963) is a British former senior police officer. He is the current CEO for EACH (East Anglia Childrens Hospices) based in Norfolk, England. Early life Gormley was born on 8 March 1963 in Redhil ...

was appointed as the successor to

Stephen House Sir Stephen House (born 1957) is a Scottish police officer who served as Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2022. After beginning his career at Sussex Police in 1981, House held positions in Northamptonshire Police and West Yorks ...

in late 2015, he initially remained part of the force executive but in summer 2017 announced his intention to retire in the coming months. He then accepted a request to reconsider his decision after several allegations of misconduct were made against Chief Constable Gormley and the latter was placed on special leave; by September 2017 Livingstone was leading the force on an interim basis. When Gormley resigned in February 2018 to contest the allegations, Livingstone became the frontrunner to succeed him formally. The role as Chief Constable from 27 August 2018 carries a four-year term and an annual salary of £216,000. As Chief Constable, he led the national service during through the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the security operation for the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, coun ...

and Operation Unicorn following the death of Queen Elizabeth. He retired from Police Scotland on 10 August 2023. In November 2023 Sir Iai
took on the role of Officer in Overall Command
o
Kenova
a series of historical investigations and reviews in relation to

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

in Northern Ireland after his predecessor, Jon Boutcher was made Chief Constable of the

. In August 2024, following the publication of the

Operation Kenova Operation Kenova is an ongoing criminal investigation into whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland failed to investigate as many as 18 murders in order to protect a high level double agent codenamed Stakeknife who worked for the ...

interim report
Sir Iain wrote to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Hilary Benn Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 26 November 1953) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds South, formerly ...

t
raise concerns after previously undisclosed material
was made available by

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

Controversies

He was suspended and demoted in 2003 after an allegation of sexual misconduct after an event at Tulliallan Policing College three years earlier, but was cleared following an internal misconduct hearing and later reinstated to his previous role as Superintendent (the youngest officer of that rank in Scotland at the time) following an appeal. Livingstone admitting he had acted inappropriately by falling asleep in the woman's room, although he was cleared of any sexual misconduct. He told the BBC earlier that he had too much to drink at a social event at the college, and had fallen asleep "in the wrong place", adding: "That was wrong, I shouldn't have done that". Former Tayside Police assistant chief constable Angela Wilson, commenting on Livingstone being cleared of sexual assault allegations, said that " ivingstone wasnot fit to lead". Constable Calum Steele, Scotland's police union boss, was found guilty of posting "inappropriate and offensive" online comments about Wilson following her comments on Livingstone.

Honours

Livingstone was awarded the

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

in 2015 for distinguished service. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

for services to policing and the public.

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingstone, Iain Chief Constables of Police Scotland Scottish recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Living people 1966 births category:Lothian and Borders Police officers People from Dunfermline Footballers from Fife Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players Raith Rovers F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Scottish lawyers Scottish police officers Men's association football wingers Knights Bachelor