Chief Constable - George Graham

Born in Dumfries George Graham joined Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary in December 1982 where he was stationed at Dumfries and Locharbriggs.

He held the position of Chief Superintendent, Head of Operations, until his promotion to Deputy Chief Constable on 1 January 2006.

Among his commitments, he represented the Force on the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS) General Policing Business Area, Crime Business Area, Professional Standards Business Area and Information Management Business Area, where he gained a specific portfolio responsibility for Public Interface.

In April 2011 he joined Northern Constabulary to take up the post of Chief Constable.

Deputy Chief Constable - Andy Cowie

Born in Edinburgh, Andy Cowie joined the London Metropolitan Police in 1988 and worked in uniform and divisional squad duties at Constable and Sergeant ranks.

In 1994 Andy transferred to Northern Constabulary serving uniform roles in Inverness and Aviemore. He carried out the role of Emergency Planning Officer and as project leader in a number of projects at Police Headquarters.

In 2003, he was promoted to Chief Inspector and took on the post of Area Commander for Shetland. Three years later he was promoted to the post of Superintendent as the Divisonal Commander of East Division.

Andy was appointed to the position of Chief Superintendent, Head of Support Services in June 2009.

As of April 2011 Andy has taken up the position of Deputy Chief Constable

Head of Operations - Ralph Noble

Chief Superintendent Ralph Noble is an officer with a long history of CID and investigative experience in the fight against serious and organised crime in the Highlands and Islands.

Chief Superintendent Noble joined Northern Constabulary’s cadet scheme in 1975, being appointed Constable in 1977. He then served in uniform at a variety of postings throughout the Force area before being promoted to Detective Sergeant at Caithness in 1991. Between 1994 and 1997 he served as Detective Inspector with the Scottish Crime Squad, Edinburgh investigating serious and organised crime at national level, subsequently returning to force to take charge of the Force Drug Squad.

In 1998 he was promoted to Detective Chief Inspector with the Scottish Crime Squad and served in this role during the organisation's successful transition to the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA).

Following this he led the Scottish Forensic Science Project on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland between 2002 and 2003, which effectively created the Scottish Forensic Service and provided the future shape and service profile of forensic science services in Scotland.

Ralph then returned to Northern Constabulary, being promoted to Superintendent in 2006, leading the Force’s strategic review of services which altered the policing structures of the force and significantly increased officer numbers.

Prior to his current role of Head of Operations, Ralph was Detective Superintendent, Head of headquarters Crime Services for two years, with responsibility for the investigation of serious crime and provision of specialist support to all policing divisions and area commands of the force.

Head of Support Services - Julian Innes

Chief Superintendent Julian Innes joined Northern Constabulary in 1986 and was stationed in Inverness then the small one officer station of Boat of Garten, before taking up the role of HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System) Manager, Inverness.

He spent three years in Portree as CID officer for the Syke and Lochalsh area, before promotion in 1998 to Detective Sergeant to the Scottish Crime Squad in Glasgow, where for the next four years he took part in proactive operations targeting the top ten percent of criminals in Scotland. He also became a surveillance instructor and taught at the Scottish Police College in Tuilliallan.

Upon return from Glasgow in 2002, Julian was Detective Sergeant for the Caithness and Sutherland Command Area, before moving to Headquarters, in the role of Director of Intelligence, with responsibility for the Force Intelligence Bureau and Special Branch. During this period he led on the introduction of the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID).

During his time at Headquarters, he also had roles with responsibility for Child Protection, Offender Management, HOLMES and the Scientific Support Unit before moving to the staff office, supporting the Chief Constable and other executive officers and performing the role of ACPOS Diversity Secretariat.

Julian was promoted to Chief Inspector Area Commander for Inverness in 2008 and thereafter promoted to Superintendent, North Divisional Commander, with responsibility for the policing of Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland and East Ross, prior to taking on the role of Head of Support Services in March 2011.

Director of Finance and Asset Management - Elaine Ward

Elaine Ward was born and educated in Lanarkshire before attending the University of Strathclyde. A member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Elaine’s career began as a Financial Management Trainee within the National Health Service.

Upon qualifying as an Accountant in 1996 Elaine took up a post with the North of Scotland Water Authority and was involved in many set-up projects following on from Local Government re-organisation.

Elaine then joined Northern Constabulary in 1998 as Budget Accountant and developed an in-house finance team. She was promoted to Director of Finance & Asset Management in January 2008.

Director of Human Resources - Andrea Sillars

Andrea Sillars was brought up and educated in the Highlands, before attending the University of Strathclyde to study for a Honours Degree in Geography and a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management.

In 1994 Andrea returned north and took up employment at Moray College, Elgin, as personnel officer, and undertook additional lecturing work which she later used through her work with Inverness College. She remains on the Board of Management at Inverness College.

Andrea then joined Northern Constabulary in 1996 as a Recruitment and Personnel Advisor, and was responsible for introducing the first Support Staff Job Evaluation Scheme to the Scottish Police Services. She was promoted to Director of Human Resources in 2000.