New South Lanarkshire CID chief to target drug trade and violent crime

Aug 28 2008 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

TACKLING violent crime and drug dealers were among the policing priorities highlighted this week by South Lanarkshire’s new CID chief.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Thomson said he wants to make sure South Lanarkshire remains “a safe place in which to live and work”.]

Mr Thomson (45), who is based at Hamilton Police Station, said: “Drugs are very much part of the focus as is violent crime, but so much criminality is inter-related and it is about looking at the totality of criminal behaviour, targeting the minority of people involved in it and bringing them before the courts.”

He said police were at the moment focusing on violent crime in Hamilton, Larkhall and Blantyre.

Mr Thomson said other priorities for the police were antisocial behaviour, child protection and serious and organised crime.

“Sometime our business is reactive, but we are planning to take a proactive stance, particularly against violent crime,” he added.

Mr Thomson moved to his new post this month after two years as the Dumbarton-based Detective Chief Inspector covering West Dunbartonshire, Argyll and Bute.

Born in Glasgow, Mr Thomson joined the Strathclyde Force in 1983 and started his service at Kilmarnock.

He was there for five years, working on both uniform and CID duties.

After two years as a detective constable at Oban, he moved to CID at Alexandria before promotion to the rank of uniform sergeant at Cambuslang. While working as a detective sergeant at Drumchapel, Clydebank and Partick, he was temporarily seconded to the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan to work on the creation of a legal database for use by the police.

In 1997, he became an inspector based at Hamilton and later worked as a detective inspector in Gorbals.

Mr Thomson lives in South Lanarkshire with his wife Nadia and daughters Sarah (14) and 10-year-old Emma.

He replaces DCI Alan Welsh, who has moved to a new policing role in Glasgow.