2 minute read
Meet your Local Officer
Who Cares? Scotland constantly strives to better the relationships between the Care Experienced community and their Corporate Parents. Awareness raising, training and open communication is at the heart of moving forward positively with your Corporate Parents.
Over the last while, we have been working hard with Police Scotland to break down barriers and build lasting relationships between the Care Experienced community and Officers. ‘Meet Your Local Officer’ gives space for passionate Officers, who we believe champion the Care Experienced community, a place to introduce themselves and show how they are changing the culture within their organisation.
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It is my great privilege to introduce myself to you. I am chief inspector Lex Baillie and I am responsible for operational policing in South Lanarkshire. I have been in the police service for more than 26 years and I love the challenges which policing brings every day. Despite meeting with loads of great people from Who Cares? Scotland and being involved in some work with Care Experienced young people, I still feel under qualified for this unique opportunity to feature in this wonderful publication! I was honoured to be involved in the Independent Care Review and worked with some wonderful Care Experienced people whose lived experience was fundamental to the review. From the outset, I made it clear that I was representing Police Scotland and that I was committed to learning as much as I could from the review. I am pleased to say the biggest thing I learned was that the best care system in the world would be all about love and that Care Experienced young people deserve to be loved. In my current role, I have the wonderful opportunity to speak to every new police officer who comes to South Lanarkshire. I share my knowledge and learning with them and I particularly enjoy talking to them about the importance of ensuring Care Experienced young people are treated fairly. Positive engagement with children and young people will influence their perspective on policing for the rest of their lives - a huge part of my job is to make their perspective positive. I wish you all the very best and thank you for the chance to appear in this fantastic publication.
